THOUGHTS

A New Year’s Miracle

2012-01-04T19:07:00.000-08:00

As you may know, Lisa and I have been fostering animals and working as volunteers for the Animal Defense League of Texas. In 2011, we took in 3 abandoned puppies (only days old) that Lisa found in our neighborhood. We fostered them through the City of San Antonio Animal Care Services until they were old enough for adoption. Later in that same year, we took in 6 kittens from the ADL shelter when their mother could no longer nurse them because of mastitis. We got them from mother’s milk to solid food when a medical problem returned them to the shelter hospital just ahead of their normal return before the Christmas Holidays. They recovered and just like the puppies we fostered, they were adopted quickly.

On Monday, the day after New Year’s, Lisa called me at work to tell me she had taken in a pregnant cat from the ADL shelter. Lisa named her “Jasmine.” She is a beautiful tabby with classic swirl markings that I’ve not seen on tabbies before. She was rather small so we figured she might be a young female, a first-time mommy. Her belly was very swollen and her six nipples were filled with milk. She was very friendly and craved attention. She insisted on climbing into our laps where she purred non-stop. She was also very restless going from one to the other. We were told that the birthing event was possible at any time. Lisa busily transformed our guest bathroom into a warm, comfortable delivery room. We all settled in to wait.

Jasmine’s story was all too common. Her family abandoned her in their apartment complex when they moved out. When the family’s friend and neighbor realized that the family cat had been left to fend for herself, she decided to feed her. After a while it became obvious that Jasmine was pregnant. She could not keep her and the kittens so she contacted the Animal Defense League shelter and the foster care director contacted Lisa. That’s where we came in.

Nothing happened during Jasmine’s first night with us, except she meowed most of the night wanting attention. She and Lisa had bonded so Lisa spent a lot of time checking on her. Jasmine wanted out, but that would not set well with our two rescue cats, Babs and Cali. They had just about forgiven us for the last batch of kittens that we took in and now we brought this noisy creature into THEIR house! It was being kept mysteriously behind closed doors. Little did they know that mother cats can be ferocious toward other cats and people. Even if it was for their own safety, they did not like it.

Lisa went online the next day and printed out information on what to expect during the feline birthing process. She even watched a You Tube video of kittens being born. She began to get cold feet. The video showed a mother cat frantically running around with the emergence of her first kitten. We learned that new first-time mothers often freak out at the start of the process. We both began wondering what we were getting ourselves into.

When I came home Tuesday night, Lisa had spent a good part of the day with Jasmine and said she was starting the “nesting behavior.” Lisa had stocked the bathroom with hydrogen peroxide, thread, towels and the kitchen scissors. She was glad I had the next two days off. She decided to get comfortable in the bathroom and stay with Jasmine as long as it took. I eventually went to bed a little before midnight. Jasmine was calm and resting next to Lisa. The information we had indicated things were ready to happen, but sometimes the expected still drags out.

A little after 1am, Lisa came into the bedroom shouting that there was one kitten. Jasmine had given birth to kitten #1 while Lisa had fallen asleep and Jasmine was now frantic. This was all so new to her. Lisa gathered the first kitten from the tile floor by the door and placed it on the blankets and towels that she hoped would be Jasmine’s nest. At that point, Jasmine raced over to her kitten and we witnessed this beautiful transformation from pregnant cat to nurturing mother. It was amazing to see all these maternal instincts kick in. Jasmine rolled over on her side exposing her nipples for her kitten to nurse. Kitten #1 was a little confused as to what he was supposed to do. He kept crawling toward the wrong end of things, as if he decided he liked it better back inside. I think I’ll call him “Wrong Way Corrigan.”

It took about an hour before #2 made its appearance and shortly after that came #3. Poor mommy was scrambling to clean both kittens so we stepped in and helped out. Jasmine was concerned at first. “What are you doing to my babies?!” Then she calmed down and allowed us to help out. Things settled down as another hour and a half went by. We could see another kitten or kittens moving around in her belly, but nothing was happening. Our information said that the last kitten could be born up to 24 hours later in some rare cases. By this time, kittens #1, 2 and 3 were moving around trying to figure out this “feeding thing.” Jasmine was patiently licking them as they explored her belly in search of their first meal.

We finally decided to leave her alone with her Kittens sometime after 4:30am. I went back to bed and Lisa crashed on the living room couch to be out with our 2 cats that were acting up and behaving badly. Did I mention they were not happy about all this? Around 6:00am Lisa came in to the bedroom and said that #4 had arrived sometime after we went to bed. When we came into bathroom, there was Jasmine in all her glory nursing 4 white kittens. They all had the hang of it by now. Not only that, but the afterbirth was gone, the kittens were clean and she had even cleaned up herself. We were so proud of her! What a mommy! We tiptoed out and left them alone only checking occasionally.

Later we placed the kittens in a warmed box with bedding while mommy ate some food, but she quickly jumped into the box to make sure they were all okay. “Who said you could move my babies?” We took the old bedding and towels out to be washed and left the new family to their business.

What we witnessed last night was wonderful and truly amazing. Birth! New life forms coming into this world. For a short while, we celebrated this life affirming miracle, this circle of life. Death gets too much play in our world. You need to see a birth now and then to give some meaning to a world often too full of sorrow and not enough joy…like baby kittens. Thanks, Jasmine.

Food for THOUGHT…

Meaning

2012-01-01T16:07:00.000-08:00

If the Mayan calendar comes true for 2012…then the world might end by the end of December this year. Whether by asteroid, war or plague all the history, evolution, wisdom and knowledge achieved over millions of years would come to naught. This experiment, this Earth would cease. If an asteroid of sufficient size should blast our planet into dust there would be no record that this tiny, insignificant “speck” (in an infinite Universe of specks) ever existed at all. Quite a sobering thought for the first day of a new year.

My next thought was…then what’s the point? What is the point of all this history, all this drama, all this wisdom and all this learning and evolution, if we disappear and there is no one to mourn our demise, let alone notice us missing in this vast cosmos? What is the significance of our ever being? What would be the meaning of our ever having lived? The enormity of space and time seems overwhelming when viewed from isolation and such “smallness.”

Life and my very being makes no sense. I’m here now, but in an instant my physical body, the trees, the majestic snow covered mountains and the very air I breathe could be reduced to dust blowing into outer space, leaving no trace. My mind races to find some sort of answer to why we exist. Where is the meaning of life and its history, if everything could be wiped “clean” in an instant? Could it all be some sort of an illusion, a joke?

Science says that energy and matter cannot be created or destroyed. They can only change state going from one to the other. Matter and energy are one (E=MC²). If we see ourselves as beings with shape and form and separated from the Universe, if we see our world as solid and finite…then life, as we know it, as we experience it with our 5 senses, makes little sense at all. Experience says all matter decomposes, turns to dust and “disappears” given enough time. It changes state. If we base our reality on shape, form and time, then life is but an illusion, but if we can imagine a larger view where we are One with all that is and ever was…we become infinite. Now shape and form and history and planets and time…don’t matter. We remember that there is a collective Universal mind that holds it all and “we” are already there.

Happy New Year 2012! Bring it on!

Food for THOUGHT…

An American Vision

2011-12-15T14:51:00.000-08:00

Here we are again…another deadline to avert a financial crisis. America is about to run out of money… once again. Hostages are being taken and a Washington “pissing contest” is under way. The first to blink loses and neither side is prepared to blink so the standoff and gridlock continues and continues and continues!

Why don’t those damn Democrats just give in and go along with the Republican Vision for America?

The vision goes something like this: Smaller government and free enterprise! Cut wasteful spending and do away with costly environmental regulations that only get in the way. Let the free market reign. Let trickle-down economics take care of those less fortunate Americans or let the churches and faith based organizations take care of the sick and the poor. Gays should just get right with the Lord and start being straight. They should find a good person of the opposite sex and get married for God’s sake. Illegal aliens should all just go back to where they came from and stop taking our jobs, all 12 million of you. All the lazy, single moms collecting welfare and creating babies and their shiftless young men with no education and no future should just take a bath and get a job, by God! The elderly, the sick and the poor should just keep working and stop being such a drag on the American economy. The working poor should just get better jobs and stop complaining, at least they have jobs. Better yet, why don’t they just save up their money and go back to school or learn a new trade, but don’t count on the government to help you with grants or scholarships because that’s just more wasteful government spending that needs to be cut like Social Security and Medicare.

People of America pull yourselves up by your own boot straps! Get a job and stop complaining! You are not entitled to anything, unless you are among the wealthy. If you are wealthy, you deserve to keep what you earned through your hard work and investments. The wealthy are the job creators and should be revered in this society. Conversely, unions are greedy, worthless institutions that only get in the way of free enterprise. Their demise in this country would be of no consequence.

Long live the military industrial complex! As long as there are wars, America will have jobs for soldiers and munitions factories, the backbone of our economy. And, oh yes…God Bless the United States of America. You are either with us or against us. You are either a patriot or a terrorist and we get to decide.

Damn Democrats! They tax the wealthy and spend their money on the 99% of this country that don’t matter. Tax and spend! Tax and spend! Take the pledge now fellow job creators and gird your loins for the liberals are coming for you!

Visions are funny things. Sometimes in the light of day…they make no sense and we see them for what they are.

Food for THOUGHT…

We Have Nothing to Fear but Ignorance and Greed

2011-11-05T15:30:00.000-07:00

I came across this YouTube video clip of a woman, a Tea Party Republican, being interviewed about President Obama. Her comments were shockingly commonplace among many conservative voters today. I hear these pronouncements from people I work with, friends and even some family members. I hear these same mantras over and over as if they came out of some “play book” for how to win at politics all costs. I hear the conservative political pundits in the media, most notably on FOX News, spewing these same lines with the zeal of a preacher to a congregation shouting in unison, ”Amen!”

What is so frightening to me is that the woman in the video looks so “middle-of-the-road America.” She looks like a grandma, an elderly aunt, a solid citizen and yet her statements are so filled with fear and hate and outright…ignorance. I feel like I am witnessing the dumbing down of America. It is like some sci-fi movie plot where the hero realizes that all the people around him, people he knows and loves, are being transformed into “party line” spewing “zombies.” They are no longer able to think for themselves. They can only repeat the latest Glenn Beck or Rush Limbaugh revelations about Obama’s unfitness for office and why the wealthy must be protected at all costs from his attempts to tax them.

In this movie, Americans are being sucked into this big machine rolling across the country. It sends out waves of fear. It provides slogans to chant, signs to carry and big screen TV’s filled with talking heads, all bent on making Americans feel afraid. Democrats, liberals…and Obama are easy targets. “They” want to tax Americans and make them pay for government programs like Medicare and Social Security that will surely bankrupt America. (No one can really see who is driving the big machine with mirrored windows.) Banners and flags streaming from the machine call for smaller government, doing away with regulations for energy production, the environment and Wall Street. Leave the wealthy “job creators” alone! They must be free to “do their thing” for America’s economy to survive and recover. The wealth they amass will eventually trickle down to the masses. Get a job and stop being a drag on society. No compromise with “the Devil.” Make Obama a one term president… at all costs.

In its wake, the hero of the movie finds the most vulnerable of American society huddled in the wreckage of humanity, civility and cooperation. They were the sick and disabled, the homeless and people without jobs. They were old men and young, starving children with frightened single mothers. Some were illegal without any plan, except to survive. They were the huddled masses that once believed in the promise of America, but that promise had now been taken by American Fear and Greed. A numbing ignorance hung over the land as the zombies marched on with the big machine. Taking back America!

Sleep well America. We are almost there…2012.

Food for THOUGHT…

Occupy Wall Street: Mobs or Grassroots Discontent?

2011-10-22T07:02:00.000-07:00

"I think it’s dangerous, this class warfare."

Mitt Romney, former Massachusetts governor --- October 4, 2011 remarks at Florida retirement community.

"... I happen to believe that these demonstrations are planned and orchestrated to distract from the failed policies of the Obama administration. Don't blame Wall Street, don't blame the big banks, if you don't have a job and you're not rich, blame yourself!”

Herman Cain, radio personality, businessman --- October 5, 2011 remarks to the press.

"What are these people for? To the degree that they're for anything, it's left-wing nuttiness."

Karl Rove, Bush administration senior advisor, Republican strategist --- October 10, 2011 remarks to Fox News anchor Sean Hannity.

"I see the president’s rhetoric of envy inflaming the public and saying, ‘Go get yours because rich people don’t deserve it.'

"I see it as inflaming this Paris mob that I hope doesn't result in a lawlessness where they say, 'Well, gosh, those nice iPads through the window should be mine and why don't I throw a brick through the window to get them because rich people don't deserve to have them when I can't have them.'"

Rand Paul, U.S. Senator from Kentucky --- October 7, 2011 remarks to Fox Business News.

"These are the same old folks who have been protesting since the Vietnam war ... they really don't curry much favor in my book."

Rick Santorum, former U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania --- October 7, 2011 remarks to CNBC.

"Well, if you look at what they’ve been telling in the media, they don’t know why they’re there, they’re just mad. And I see people angry in my district too, but this attack upon business, attack upon industry, attack upon freedom, and I think that’s what this is all about."

Paul Broun, Congressman from Georgia --- October 7, 2011 remarks to ABC News

*Above quotes from: About.com website

Do I need any better examples of the kind of partisan disconnect going on right now in America? These quotes from GOP movers and shakers pretty much fall in line with the sentiment expressed by my conservative Republican friends and co-workers. “They are all a bunch of nut-jobs that don’t have a message,” they complain.

To me, that’s the scary part. The Wall Street crowd and their Republican legislator friends and Tea Party supporters just don’t get it. They can’t understand where this anger and frustration is coming from and why it is spreading across America. They blame President Obama and his “failed policies.” They blame the poor and the out of work middle class for not having jobs in this economy. They see it as some sort of attack by the unwashed, lazy masses upon the hard working “job creators”… the wealthiest in America. It’s an “attack upon freedom” no less! “These are the same old folks that have been protesting since the Vietnam War,” as if protesting was somehow UN-American.

Failed policies? Certainly! We have had years and years of failed policies on both sides of the isle in Washington. There were policies that provided American businesses with tax incentives to move jobs to third world countries so they could exploit cheap labor and maximize corporate profits. Unions did not help as they sought more and more bloated benefits for workers without considering the cost of cheap foreign competition. Failed policies resulted in the loss of American jobs, the closing of American factories, and our whopping trade imbalance with China. Failed policies did not start and end with President Obama, despite what Republicans and Tea Party conservatives would have us believe.

So now we have conservative Washington politicians, lobbied by the big banks and wealthy corporations, bent on gridlock. Political compromise and tax reform have become dirty words. Their battle cry is…CUT! CUT! CUT! Their plan is to block everything Obama proposes from healthcare and jobs legislation to appointments in order to make him “a one term president,” even if this myopic view means the destruction of this nation and its economy. If nothing gets passed, nothing gets done and they can turn around and blame all of this on President Obama and his “failed policies.” These same politicians then scratch their heads as angry American citizens “Occupy Wall Street” and settle in for the long haul. They scramble to point fingers of blame everywhere, but at themselves. They just don’t GET IT! It is truly amazing that they don’t see any political fallout except for Obama and Democrats. They must really think voters are dopes.

History is full of tales about kings and queens who were so high in their “ivory towers” that they failed to hear their subject’s petitions far below. Imagine their shock when they realize their ivory towers are only houses of cards, when they realize that banks and corporations don’t vote…people do.

Food for THOUGHT…

Where Do We Go From Here?

2011-10-20T15:24:00.000-07:00

The news is filled with the death of a dictator, gridlock in Washington, GOP contenders running for President, world economy on the brink of catastrophe, millions of people out of work, foreclosures and abducted children. Our lives are filled with worry, challenge and heartbreak. We are starved for good news, for hope that things will get better. So where do we go from here?

What’s next depends on each one of us. We just have not realized it yet. It is so easy to blame external forces, people or groups of people for trouble in the world. What we just don’t get…yet…is that each of us has the power to create our own reality. Each one of us has the power to change that reality. Each one of us is not only connected, but a part of the Whole of what Is. No more and no less than each microscopic cell is a part of our body as a whole.

So many of us live our lives as if there is no connection. We live our lives in isolation, in separation from our fellow human beings. We live in a world of “not enough.” We come to believe that there is only so much love out there. There is only so much money, so much food and water, etc. From the moment of birth, we perceive our lives as a race to get… enough. Our fellow humans are seen as competitors for those resources. Once we feel we have enough, we race to get more than enough. Having more seems to give us power over those that have less. “I have mine…now you go scramble for yours!”

Having and not having allows us to judge our fellow humans. We assign worth and value based on what we have or don’t have. It is so easy, if we see ourselves as separate, little islands in a sea of humanity. If I have more than you, then I must have worked harder than you, making you lazy, less valuable, less worthy. I must be more blessed by God than you because… I have more. Once I judge you as less than me, it becomes easy to treat you differently. We are no longer equals.

As we accumulate resources in this perceived “race,” we seek allies. We seek out those that have our similar values and levels of power, influence, status and ideology. We invent “Us” and “Them.” We label people as liberals, conservatives, Christians, Muslims, Jews, blacks, whites, gays, any one of a number of groups and sub groups. Labels come to define the group.

Once we have “Us and Them,” it becomes easier to value one group over another. It can ultimately allow for one group to enslave or oppress another. In its extreme, it can lead to humans torturing and killing their fellow human beings. It can lead to war between nations, murder and mayhem. It only requires one group, one nation or one person to see the other as…less than human, worthy of atrocities and death. The Holocaust is only one recent example of man’s continued inhumanity to man over human history played out on the world stage… time and time again.

Mankind is at a crossroads, as I see it. We can stay with this ancient model that has not served man well at all, or we can choose a new path, a new vision, a new reality. Will that vision allow us to see ourselves as connected and a part of the whole of humanity? Will we see a world of plenty rather than not enough where cooperation and sharing is valued over having more than others? Will each of us reach a hand down to pull our fellow humans up? Man is so ready, so close to the next evolutionary leap that many of us can feel it. We must first understand our relationship to one another and our relation to the Whole of Existence.

Where oh where do we go from here?

Food for THOUGHT…

Puppies Adopted!

2011-09-29T15:23:00.000-07:00

A week after Lisa and I turned our foster puppies over to San Antonio Animal Care Services (ACS), we made a trip back out to the city shelter to follow-up. We had hoped for one last time with our little guys, but that was not to be. We walked through the puppy kennels and did not find Big Boy, Baby or Brownie. We were directed to the adoption office to confirm their adoption. At the office, we gave the clerk their ACS ID numbers and held our breath.

Brownie was the first to be adopted, only a day or so after we dropped them off. Brownie was Lisa’s favorite and she started to cry tears of joy. Baby and Big Boy were picked up by a no-kill shelter, near Austin, called Austin Pets Alive. When we got home we went to their website and learned that Big Boy was adopted on Monday, the day after he arrived. His sister, Baby, is still pending, but I’m sure she will be or has already been adopted by now.

The month and a half that the puppies were in our care were a wonderful mix of early mornings, late nights and worries, but also laughter and amazement. They went from little, furry lumps into active, healthy and very happy little creatures that loved to dig and play. We miss their little puppy faces of excitement, but we love the fact that they have now found new homes, homes that they would never have known if they had been left to die by the side of the road in the summer heat.

The day we took them back to ACS, I took each puppy in my lap and looked them right in the eye and told each of them that the only job they have to do is to get adopted and to be the best puppy they can be. I gave them each a big hug and told them I loved them. Then I accepted a few licks in the face. I guess they were paying attention.

Well done puppies! Well done!

Love, your foster mom and dad.

Food for THOUGHT…

Puppies Update

2011-09-03T16:24:00.000-07:00

Our puppies are doing well. In less than 2 weeks we have watched our little charges go from being furry lumps, infested with fleas and ticks, clinging to life, to frisky, healthy puppies. When we brought them into our home they did not even have their eyes open yet. They rolled and crawled to get around and Lisa had to feed them with an eye-dropper. Once we had formula from Animal Control Services, the puppies were introduced to bottle feeding and they really began putting on weight. With their eyes wide open, they began to wobble around on all fours. They were eating so much formula that Lisa had to go back to ACS for more food. She came back with not only more formula, but bags of dry puppy chow and canned dog food.

Lisa had the idea of doing away with the bottles and letting them learn to lap the formula from bowls. It worked so well that we decided to gradually add solids to their formula. Their teeth are starting to come in so they are ready. We began adding more solids to make the mixture thicker and once again our puppies rose to the challenge by eating and lapping up their food out of their own little bowls, but their feedings have become a lot slower and messier. They like to step in their bowls and wander around to see what the other puppies are eating.

Did I also mention…they are all pooping and peeing very well now? We change a lot of newspapers! Newspapers are like gold to us now! We were getting to the point that we had to hurry and read the day’s paper so that we could turn around and use them. We have enlisted the help of our neighbor across the street. She is bringing over her used papers so we are getting by for now.

The bathtub in our guest bathroom was getting too confining for three active puppies so I built a “playpen” for them in the sun room. They love their new digs. There’s plenty of room to run around, wrestle with their siblings and take naps. Their little personalities are really starting to come out now. Big Boy gets sleepy after he eats and is getting huge. Baby is the most vocal and lets you know if things do not suit her. Brownie is a good eater and loves to play, but she often gets nosed out by herother siblings when push comes to shove.

Lisa takes the puppies out for a bath almost every morning and the same puppies who once yelped “bloody murder,” now love this time with her. They love being bathed and having their bellies rubbed. She puts them in the crate to dry off after their baths. They let her know when they want to go back inside the house. It gets pretty warm by mid morning here.

Yes, we are getting attached to our little puppies, but we also know that we cannot raise and care for 3 grown dogs and two cats in our house. We are just their current stop on their way to their forever families. They are out there and we are doing our best to get our puppies ready. Next week we take them into the ACS vet for shots and work ups prior to adoption. They should be weaned in a few more weeks and our job will be done. They are a lot of work, but they will be missed. Lisa and I would love to see how they turn out as full grown dogs and they lives they will change.

It is truly a shame that many people do not take responsibility for their pets. The animal shelters of San Antonio are doing their best to spay and neuter as many stray cats and dogs as possible. Lisa and I work as volunteers for the Animal Defense League of Texas and its no-kill shelter. Soon we will be trained to go out and work community events to talk about the importance of spaying and neutering pets. Our puppies were lucky that they were found in time. There are way too many kittens and puppies that suffer cruel, needless deaths because owners did not care if their pets roamed the neighborhoods creating more generations of starving and unwanted animals. Sadly, so many or these animals wind up in the pound, unable to be adopted and they are put to sleep.

I urge all pet owners to stop the suffering, give a damn…and do the right thing.

Food for THOUGHT…

We are Foster Parents!

2011-09-03T14:28:00.000-07:00

Lisa and I have become official foster parents! We took in 3 abandoned puppies from the neighborhood..

Monday, Lisa was out for her early morning walk when she noticed something in the street. At first she thought it was a dead cat, but as she got closer she could see it was a puppy. It was twitching. She noticed two more puppies nearby in a vacant lot by the street. They were also twitching. Lisa did not have the heart to leave them to die so she went home and got something to collect dogs and bring them home.

The poor creatures were filthy. She put them in a box and set the box in the bathtub while she went to the Internet to get some information on how to care for them. All three puppies did not have their eyes open yet. Puppy's eyes open around two weeks of age so we had some idea of how young they were. She found a makeshift formula online made of milk, egg yolk and oil to feed them. She found an eye dropper to use and learned that they need to be fed every 3- 4 hours. Yikes!

Her next plan was to find a shelter to take them. This is where things took a real turn for the worse! Because of their age and the condition they were found, most shelters will not take puppies under 6 weeks. They need to be weaned and weigh about two pounds. Even the animal shelter where Lisa and I volunteer would not take them at their age. Now what!? We are cat people. We are not set up to care for or raise puppies! Our cats were getting very suspicious of the yips and yaps coming from the bathroom.

When Lisa entered the bathroom to feed the puppies, she noticed they were covered with fleas and ticks. She decided to give them a bath in Dawn detergent to help kill the fleas. Did I mention that little puppies do not like to take a bath? During the ordeal she realized there were a lot of ticks on their underside. Did I mention that Lisa hates ticks? The puppies looked much better but now Lisa had to clean and wipe down the bathroom looking for stray fleas. She fed all three puppies with the eye dropper and they took to the home made formula well. After eating, the puppies had to be burped and their privates wiped with wet cotton balls to get them to pee. She was getting overwhelmed and was beginning to wonder what she had gotten into.

Lisa called our vet to see what to do about the ticks and the remainder of the fleas after their bath. The vet recommended a flea and tick spray that could be used on new born puppies. The problem was I had taken our car to work and had a meeting after work. My meeting ran late and Lisa was about to tear her hair out. When we finally connected after the meeting, I raced to PetCo to get the spray before they closed. When I returned with the spray, Lisa and I took each of the puppies outside and doused them good. We left them outside in a box to dry off while Lisa and I had a much needed glass of wine. Then we took the puppies back inside to feed them with Lisa’s eye dropper. What a day!

The next morning things started to improve when Lisa ran to the store early and picked up some small baby bottles and dry puppy formula to replace the homemade stuff. The dogs took to it and the bottles much better than the eyedropper and they were able to eat their fill. In one day, their strength and activity started to improve a lot. Most of the ticks and all of the fleas were gone thanks to the spray. Puppies were looking good and they were even peeing on their own. Then, the two females opened their eyes for the first time. They had names! “Big boy,” the lone male still had his eyes closed, but he had the best appetite. “Brownie,” the middle female was a fussy eater and looks different from “Big boy” and “Baby,“ the runt of the litter. Big boy and Baby look like a black lab mix while Brownie looks like a German Shepherd mix.

Lisa finally got through to San Antonio’s Animal Care Services and she talked to the foster care coordinator. She told us that if we could keep the puppies until they are weaned and weigh two pounds, they would be able to take them and try to find a home for them. Puppies are adopted fast they said. They asked us to fill out some paperwork and bring the puppies in for a look. While we were there, they gave us formula, bottles and a large cage for when they become mobile. We have to bring them in for a work- up and shots in two weeks. We also have access to vet care while we are foster parents. So here we are…foster parents to 3 adorable little mugs. Are we up to the challenge?

Food for THOUGHT…

Jobs

2011-08-06T19:53:00.000-07:00

So we have this deficit thing going on in the United States. It amounts to not having enough incoming revenues to cover the outgoing spending. This imbalance creates debt. Just recently our congress, after much contentious debate, voted to increase our “debt ceiling” so that we can continue to borrow money to make ends meet. Uncle Sam is spending more money than he’s taking in and he’s been borrowing money from the neighborhood loan shark, China. Are you getting the picture?

Now, one way to deal with this deficit is to cut expenses. Well, what are our national expenses? What do we spend our tax money on? The Federal Budget breaks out something like this:

19% Non Defense Items (Discretionary)
16% Defense (Discretionary)
34% Entitlement Programs like Medicare and Medicaid (Mandatory)
8% Interest on National Debt (Mandatory)
23% Social Security Trust Fund (Mandatory)

As you can see, some of our expenses are discretionary and some are mandatory. Mandatory items are contractual items that the government is obligated to pay. Discretionary items are at the discretion of Congress. They can choose to fund them or not. A discretionary item in our home budget might be something like spending money on ice cream or going out for dinner. A mandatory item would be something like paying your electric bill, your doctor bill or paying off a car loan. If we only cut expenses, which type of expenses should we zero in on? Now I don’t like paying on my car loan, but I do like going out to dinner. If I choose to keep going out to dinner and skip paying my car loan, I could find myself without a car and no way to get to my job. Then I’d be out of work. I guess looking at discretionary expenses first would make more sense.

Only cutting our discretionary budget items won’t solve the deficit problem alone. Some items like Defense are necessary in a dangerous world. We can’t go blindly hacking away at that budget and not put ourselves in danger, but we can still find substantial cost savings as we review our national policies for getting into war. Iraq and Afghanistan are wars that have now lasted 10 years and are costing taxpayers $10 billion a month. I’m not saying that mandatory expenses are exempt either, but just like the defense budget, we cannot make drastic cuts to entitlement programs that harm our elderly and the poor who depend on them. Yes, we will need to find cost savings in Medicare and Medicaid. We will have to find more efficient ways to administer these programs and reduce healthcare costs in the marketplace. In all of these programs, discretionary and mandatory, we will need to root out waste and corruption for substantial budget savings, but it will most certainly take political will, compromise and technology to make it happen.

So if we can’t solve the deficit problem by just cutting the budget items, what else needs to be done? We also need to raise revenue. Raising taxes? Horror of horrors, I brought up the “T” word! Wash my mouth out with soap. The bottom line is that we need both spending cuts and more revenue. One Democratic plan called for increasing taxes on the wealthiest Americans and corporations and actually lowering taxes for 95% of the rest of us and small businesses. Another plan calls for reforming the whole U.S. Tax Code and doing away with loopholes for millionaires, billionaires and large corporations. Some corporations like GE pay no taxes at all while qualifying for billions of dollars in tax credits. “Between 1986 and 2006, the top 1 percent of U.S. households almost doubled their share of the nation’s income, from 11.3 percent of the total to 22.1 percent. Over that same span, the share of top 1 percent income paid in federal income tax dropped by nearly a third, from 33.1 to 22.8 percent.” Is that fair?
-Source: Kyle Mudry and Justin Bryan, Individual Income Tax Rates and Shares, 2006, Statistics of Income Bulletin, Winter 2009, Internal Revenue Service.

Even with a more balanced approach of both cutting expenses and enhancing revenues with tax reform, there is still one more very important thing to do. Jobs. We need to create jobs and get people back to work. Working people don’t draw unemployment. Working people buy things. Working people pay their bills and their mortgages. Working people pay taxes. Taxes bring in revenue that can pay down the debt. For too many years, our government has allowed and even encouraged large corporations to take American jobs out of this country by offering tax incentives and tax breaks. These same corporations turned around and exploited cheap, third-world labor, leaving factories in this country shuttered and Americans unemployed. Perhaps it is time to start bringing the jobs back home.

Here’s a novel idea! Let’s bring back the WPA! Let’s provide jobs for all those folks who have exhausted their unemployment and are still looking for work. They can build things, clean up our parks, repair our nation’s crumbling infrastructure and install solar panels on homes. They can go back to school and learn a new trade, new skills and technology for the 21st century.

Our nation is at a crossroads and it is time to put political ideology and rhetoric aside for the good of this once great nation. It is a time that calls, no, it screams for innovation and new ideas. Liberals and conservatives must stop digging in their heels in this endless gridlock. America must reinvent itself and get our economy moving and growing again. Oh, but wait… all these things will cost money and this government and this congress is all about cutting things…not growing things. Just remember… fertilizer is cheap and water is free, but pruning blindly… could be deadly to this American tree.

Food for THOUGHT…

American Tragedies

2011-07-23T16:27:00.000-07:00

Might Makes Right

After World Wars I and II, The United States of America came to view itself as a great, if not the greatest, military force on this planet. Having defeated Germany, Italy and Japan in these hard fought wars, we saw ourselves as a great power, a great defender of right and freedom in the world. And we were. We were soon countered by the growth of Communism and the rise of the Soviet Union and the “Iron Curtain.” We began to see militarism as part of the American character. American corporations began to grow rich on developing and supplying weapons and arms around the world. President Eisenhower warned America in the 1950’s of the “Military Industrial Complex,” but no one was listening. America was becoming rich and full of itself. As a people, we became believers that military might makes our actions in the world right!

This belief has led us into conflicts and wars that were costly, not just in money, but in American lives and ultimately in America’s image in the world. Korea, Vietnam and the Gulf War were costly and ultimately led to American defeat or stalemate. These wars began with American hubris and seemed to end with our trying to find a way out of a quagmire, to “save face” for American pride and justify the expense and loss of life. In too many ways, Iraq and Afghanistan, the longest wars in U.S. history, are no different. These were wars of our making against stateless enemies with no boundaries and goals that were never clear. America will have to wait and see if there are winners or losers here. Clear victories and goals achieved will be subjects for debate among future historians. The U.S. is currently spending $10 BILLION a month on Iraq and Afghanistan at a time when Americans are calling for spending cuts and tax increases to deal with an unimaginable national debt in the TRILLIONS of dollars. The belief in “might makes right” was and still is an American tragedy.

Big Business vs. Unions

At the dawn of America’s Industrial Revolution, our country began to see the migration of workers from rural farms to big cites in search for industrial jobs. American industry needed masses of cheap, expendable labor to work in factories and mines that could produce large quantities of manufactured goods not only for the United States, but for the world. American big business was being forged in this revolution. The image of large smoke stacks belching out thick, black smoke became America’s symbol for prosperity and progress. The output of American factories and mines began to rival the world. Companies and corporations became rich and powerful, but at a growing cost to the American worker. Images of child labor, sweatshops and unsafe working conditions called out for the creation of labor unions. Big business seeking to maximize its profits fought long and hard against the unions, but in the end unions prevailed. American business and industry now had to contend with new laws, new regulations in regards to their workers. For the first time, American workers could bargain for better wages, better working conditions and benefits. American union bosses grew rich and powerful on dues paid with a growing union membership. Soon they rivaled the captains of industry for power and influence in Washington. The pendulum swung to the unions, but not without a price. American products were becoming too expensive on the world market. American workers were becoming lazy and complacent in union protected jobs that did little to improve innovation and productivity.

The animosity between big business and unions continued to grow until big business found a way out. By sending American production overseas to third world countries, American companies could take advantage of the cheap, expendable labor, free from troublesome labor laws and unions. China and India proved to be a “gold mine” for American industry. The cost of shipping these cheaply produced goods back to the U.S. could easily be offset by the lower cost of labor and production in these countries. Big business was able to influence Washington to give out tax breaks and write laws that not only protected large corporations, but encouraged them in this migration of American jobs overseas. Familiar American companies and corporations began to disappear or merge with larger and now multi-national corporations. These huge corporations began to have decreasing ties or allegiance to American coffers and taxpayers. Today, some of these monoliths, like GE, pay no taxes at all, while receiving huge American tax credits. China and India’s economies began to flourish, while our balance of trade with them continued to grow in their favor, increasing our national debt. A truly global economy was being born. It was extending far beyond American shores. The pendulum was swinging back to big business in a very big way leaving American unions wondering about their relevancy in this new global economy.

The cost of this swing has been devastating to our country. American manufacturing jobs have steadily declined leaving shuttered factories and deteriorating infrastructure in its wake. Unemployment in America is now over 9% and millions of American workers are scrambling for fewer and fewer available jobs. The cost of higher education and college degrees are steadily increasing beyond the average American’s ability to pay for them. More and more, the jobs that remain here require a greater level of education and training than our crumbling public school system can produce. Increasingly, American high tech companies are hiring better trained workers outside the U.S., countries like India and Ireland. Many of these workers come highly educated, but they lacked opportunities in their own countries. In relatively short order, America went from a country of belching smoke stacks and production rival to the world… to a “service economy.” Little by little, America has come under the economic thumb of the very countries that we sought to exploit only decades ago. “Made in China or India” are on many of the abundantly cheaper products Americans now buy out of necessity, rather than out of quality or loyalty to American workers. If American labor unions and American industry had found ways to work together, who knows what the face of America would look like today. The rivalry between business and unions remains an American tragedy.

Banks and the American Dream.

As America grew in the Industrial Revolution, so did the banking industry. In time, just about any town of any size had one or more banks. They were the center of local trade and commerce. People went to their local banks for business loans, mortgages and personal loans. Americans got to know their bankers as well as their doctors or dentists. Banks were an intricate part of the community.

Big banks and financial institutions came into being to meet the needs of American industrial growth. The captains of industry needed a place, a tool, an instrument to use their growing capital. Financial markets provided for the buying and selling of their stocks and bonds to help fuel America’s growing economy. Over the years big banks have become Mega-banks as Wall Street’s influence and power have grown. Small, community banks were slowly becoming a thing of the past and bank mergers were becoming commonplace. The face of banking was changing with ATM’s and drive-thru windows and credit cards issued by these big banks. Today, online banking over smart phones has come into being. Gone are the days of shopping for a bank by the sort of premium they offered to open an account. It was not uncommon for banks, in those days, to offer a new toaster or some other small appliance to attract customers. Today, we shop by which bank will charge us the fewest fees, service charges and penalties. Which bank will allow you to have the lowest minimum balance in your account? Forget paying interest on that account. Are you kidding? Banking in America went from what they would offer you to have your account with them to what they will now charge you for having and using your money to make the bank even more money.

The American dream has always centered on having a home, a farm, a ranch, something that through hard work and perseverance, you could come to own. The vehicle to this dream of ownership was more often the home mortgage. It was something you worked out with your local banker. He knew you as a person. He knew what you did for a living and what your resources and abilities to pay back the loan were. If you got into trouble, you and your local banker worked things out. The mortgage stayed with your local bank. A few decades ago, a national idea took shape in Washington. It was a good idea. Let’s help returning veterans buy homes. It worked pretty well. Then it moved on to include the thought that middle class Americans and working class Americans could use some help reaching their American dream, too. Federal agencies and corporations were created to help reach this goal. If Americans could find a way to own their own home, they would feel more invested in their communities and neighborhoods. The middle and working class would thrive. It was a truly remarkable vision for the future of America.

The unraveling of this great American dream came with deregulation of big banks, financial institutions and insurance companies by Washington over the last few decades and by both parties in power. Home mortgages could not only be obtained by community banks and big mega banks, but more and more by sub-prime lenders offering seemingly low rates and fewer background checks on the families being loaned the money. The lenders no longer knew their customers. Many people were given loans with such impossible terms that they were doomed to fail. It became not the quality of the loan, but the quantity of loans generated by these often unscrupulous lenders that generated their quick commissions. These good and bad loans could then be bundled up and sold off to Wall Street investors and used as complicated financial instruments to create even more wealth. The American dream was about to become the American nightmare.

The housing market took off like a rocket. Suddenly, real estate was an extremely good investment. With the help of questionable home appraisers, used by these sub-prime lenders, the values of homes began to ratchet up quickly. Speculators came into the market turning homes in a matter days or weeks for a quick profit. Clearly the housing market could not sustain this kind of growth. The bubble burst! Too many bad loans were being held by financial institutions like Lehmen Brothers. In turn, their bad loans were insured by large insurance companies like AIG. One by one, the big banks and Wall Street investors began to realize the mess they had created. Some giants went under. The American economy was about to collapse and markets were in free fall before our government could finally stabilize and bail out these reckless financial institutions..

Housing prices began to fall across America. People who could no longer afford their complex mortgage rates from these sub-prime lenders quickly lost the option to sell their homes. These homeowners soon found themselves “under water,” owing more on their mortgage than the house was now worth on the market. Today, millions of Americans now face foreclosure of their homes or the prospect of simply having to walk away from their mortgage, leaving the banks holding the proverbial “bag.” All around America, whole neighborhoods have been abandoned to weeds, vandalism and neglect by their former owners. With little prospect of resale any time soon, the glutted housing market continues to stay depressed. The American dream lays shattered for so many people. Greed and the inability, or even worse, the unwillingness by Washington to regulate America’s financial industry is, and will be for some time to come, an American tragedy.

The End of Civility, Common Sense and Compromise

Perhaps the greatest American tragedy is being played out before us right now with the debate in Washington over extending the debt limit. If the financial experts are correct and the United States of America is allowed to go into default, America as we know it, may be over and even worse… the world economy could come to a crashing halt. Then again, perhaps it won’t, but a small group of freshmen house Republicans are betting that America and the world won’t crash and burn on August 2nd, 2011. They have steadfastly dug in their heels for their ideology, as have their Democrat counterparts to be sure, and together both sides have brought our country to the brink of an abyss.

Perhaps it does not even matter if they are proved right or wrong. We have seen our national leaders time and time again place party ideology, politics and future election chances ahead of civility, common sense and most importantly…compromise, compromise to get things done for the good of our nation. It is what we have witnessed over these last few weeks, months and years in the halls of our government that is the REAL American tragedy.

Food for THOUGHT…

The Republican “Brand”

2011-07-14T19:44:00.000-07:00

Some congressional Republican leaders are worried that failure to reach an agreement on extending the debt ceiling would “destroy the Republican Brand.” The Republicans would be blamed for their refusal to negotiate with President Obama and the Democrats. They are starting to worry about how the voters will view them in 2012. It started me thinking about the concept. Just what is the Republican Brand?

If you were to ask a Republican today, they would probably say that their “brand” stands for smaller government, less regulation of business and banks, lower taxes, the sanctity of marriage and pro-life. The Republican Brand stands for family values and fiscal responsibility. Now that sounds reasonable. Who wants a “big brother” government dictating your every move? Why should banks and corporations be bogged down with all kinds of troublesome regulations that prevent them from doing what they do best…make money? Who wants to pay higher taxes? That’s a no-brainer! Duh! Marriage should always be thought of as sacred in my book and who’s not for life…liberty… and the pursuit of happiness? In fact, who’s not for family values or balancing the old checkbook? Sounds like a pretty good brand that even Martha Stewart would be proud of.

Then I started thinking about how Republican President, Herbert Hoover, ushered in the Great Depression. Another Republican president, Richard Nixon, had to resign because of a little thing called “Watergate” and dirty tricks against the DNC. Thank God for the savior of the Republican Party with President Ronald Regan. Finally, the golden age for Republicans! But wait, wasn’t there that little thing called, “Iran-Contra?” We finally arrive at President George W. Bush, former Republican governor from the great state of Texas. When he left the Oval Office after 8 years, he had turned a government surplus into a huge deficit. America was involved in two costly wars that were adding billions of dollars a month to that deficit. In the middle of all this national expense, Republican President Bush gives tax breaks to the wealthiest Americans. When this president left office, America’s economy was headed to the toilet, rivaling another Great Depression. (Remember President Hoover? Full circle?) The economic crisis that resulted was helped by years of a Republican administration’s neglect and undoing of banking and finance regulations.

During this last Republican administration, Americans saw the size of their government explode with the creation of another cabinet level position called Homeland Security. Americans began to stand in long lines as a new government agency, the TSA checked, scanned, poked and prodded airline passengers right down to their shoes, socks and fingernail clippers. This Republican administration expanded our government’s reach right down to town librarians with the passage of something called the “Patriot Act.” George Orwell had nothing on this group of NEOCON Republicans. Now what was that about smaller government and getting government out of our lives?

And talk about your “military industrial complex” warned about by President Eisenhower back in the 1950’s, VP Dick Cheney’s corporation, Halliburton, has done very well contracting with our military in Iraq and Afghanistan. (No conflict of interest there!) Large corporations and their lobbyists descended upon Washington and helped write all kinds of laws and regulations from environmental protection to banking to big oil and gas. (Remember Tom Delay?) Jobs went not to Americans, but were exported to cheaper labor in India and China further widening our trade gap and adding to American unemployment. Large corporations like GE could avoid paying income taxes and earned large tax credits under this Republican administration.

Today, under Democratic President Obama, the Tea Party Republicans have added a whole new dimension to their “brand” with opposition to the Affordable Healthcare Act (they continue to call it “Obama Care”) which seeks to do for the American Middle Class what Medicare did for our seniors and Medicaid did for dependent children and families. Republicans today want to cut back or eliminate altogether long treasured entitlement programs, including Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid that the disabled, seniors, women and dependent children depend on for their survival in this economy.

And finally in Wisconsin, the state’s newly elected Republican governor has launched an open attack on public service unions triggering voter outrage and recall elections to help overturn the governor’s anti-union law. Republican dirty tricks again raised its ugly head when they ran “fake Democrats” against bonafide Democrats in Wisconsin’s open primary. The Republicans poured a lot of outside money into these fake Democrats to foil the election. They failed, but the fact that they tried to pull it off to cheat voters…speaks volumes about the Republican Brand.

So what is the real Republican Brand? Is it to cut crucial programs that act as a safety net for millions of vulnerable Americans under the guise of deficit reduction while preserving tax cuts and credits for the wealthy? Is it doing away with the EPA and all their bothersome regulations? Is it the union busting party? Is it the mean-spirited, Party of NO? Is it the party of intolerance? Is it the party of I’ve got mine now you go scramble for yours? Is it the party of no taxes for the wealthy, because we provide the jobs? (oh, really) Should Americans continue to buy and vote for this brand?

So what is the Democratic Party Brand, you ask? Is it the tax and spend liberal party? Is it the massive debt party? Or is this the party of Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, alternative energy, education, jobs and recovery? Is this the party of the greatest good for the greatest number?

Food for THOUGHT…

Frickin’ Debate Over Fracking?

2011-07-09T15:33:00.000-07:00

Okay, so this country needs energy. We run on oil and natural gas. Oil is going to run out and we are importing more and more oil from unstable Middle Eastern countries that hate our guts and seem intent on making us, the U.S., and the rest of the world pay for it “through the nose.” Solution: Natural Gas! We have large deposits in this country and we know how to get it out of the ground. The process is called hydraulic fracturing or “fracking.”

Fracking, uses water, millions of gallons of water, and an array of chemicals to push apart underground rock formations, releasing natural gas for collection. Environmental groups want more regulation of the process and the chemicals used in fracking, but industry groups say more rules aren't necessary. Local communities across the country are now bucking heads with large energy corporations as health and water pollution issues are coming to light.

Well, suck it up America! Our country needs natural gas, if we are going to tell those Middle Eastern oil dictators to “go pound sand.” Natural gas is cleaner burning and more plentiful in this country. We just need to get it out of the ground. It is there for the taking. Are we going to keep paying more and more for less and less oil or are we going to drill, baby, drill right here in our own backyard? The EPA and the tax man should just leave the gas industry alone. This is big business and it creates jobs… in America.

Okay so we have to get used to being able to light our kitchen facets like a BIC lighter. Big deal. Think of it like a bonus. Free gas! Rig up a spit over your sink and cook a pork roast for dinner. Headaches and blurry vision? Take an aspirin, people! We need a plentiful source of energy more than we need safe drinking water. Why do you need to know what chemicals are in your drinking water anyway? We drink lots of stuff with chemicals right off the grocer’s shelf. Did you ever read the small print on bottled vitamin water or Gatorade? Do you know what any of those chemicals are?

So what if your kids can’t play outside because of the fumes when the wind is blowing from the drilling rigs in your backyard. Just keep them inside and close your windows, for God’s sake. Better yet…hold your breath until the wind direction changes or better still, just MOVE. If you pack up and move to cleaner air and water, then…problem solved. If you stay in your beloved homes, then shame on you. Your stubbornness may just get you and your family killed. Just move for the greater good of our nation and its corporate wealth. You know it’s the patriotic thing to do.

And boo hoo, you got CANCER! Lots of people get cancer from all kinds of things. That’s life. We need natural gas, America. It heats our homes and one day may just run our cars. Sure cancer is a sad thing. One day they may find a cure for it and won’t you feel selfish if you stop this great nation and its industrial giants from developing our wonderful stash of natural gas to rival the world! What is more important… the health of a few or the Home of the Brave?

America needs to get on board with our nation’s energy industry. They are here to serve us…even if they kill us in the process. Besides China and the rest of the world will pay a pretty penny for OUR natural gas and help our balance of trade and our national debt. So stop this frickin’ debate over fracking and be a true Patriot… (queue “God Bless America”)

Food for THOUGHT…

Diversity and Federal Republics

2011-06-21T20:46:00.000-07:00

Last week I got an email, one of those internet things that keep getting passed around to stir up the slumbering masses in this country. It was another perfect example of how easy it is to use fear and prejudice to divide and conquer a nation. The e-mail showed photos of what was purported to be a ruined Detroit City, the “Motor City.” The usual suspects for this catastrophic failure of an American city were the blacks, the Mexicans and this is new…the Muslims. The bottom line message was that the city fell due to white apathy. Whites abandoned the city let it fall prey to…them.

There was nothing in any of the photos to identify the city of Detroit, but there were these depressing photos showing abandoned and deteriorating buildings and factories. If the pictures were of Detroit, I suggest that federal policies over decades by BOTH parties have led to dismal failures in our inner cities. The misuse of taxpayer money on ill-conceived programs with good intentions has led our nation to where we stand today. It should be a warning to other countries as well. Look at Greece and Spain. Their governments have led them to the brink of default with spending far beyond their means and the US is not far behind.

As I see it, it is not the diversity in our country that is leading us to failure and ruin...it is that we all see ourselves as whites, blacks, Mexicans, Muslims and not as ONE people, ONE nation standing together to solve our problems. There are forces that are trying very hard to exploit our nation's diversity and stereotypes for personal gain. They are playing off not just ethnic diversity but political diversity as well...for personal profit and power. If Americans do not wake up and realize that we are all being played...then America, as we know it...is doomed.

We have forgotten what a federal republic is all about? “One nation… indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” (not just the super rich and the politically connected.) Would we rather go back to monarchies and city states where we become subjects of a king or queen or a privileged noble class? Would we rather divide up and fight as little fiefdoms like in the Dark Ages? That's where we are headed as far as I can see. If history teaches us nothing, it teaches us that it repeats itself.

The evolution of this once great country is at stake. We can either come together and work together as a nation for the common good or we can break up into factions and fight amongst ourselves for our own self interests...and die.

We are at the brink and we are running out of time.

Food for THOUGHT…

Socialism vs. Capitalism

2011-06-14T14:06:00.000-07:00

The ideological battle goes on! The shouting and rhetoric are at a fever pitch. Liberals, socialists, conservatives, capitalist…each side is scrambling to portray the other as the most dangerous threat facing America today.

Damn socialists! If it were up to them, half this country would be on the government dole and the other half, the hard working, red-blooded Americans would be paying for it. Everybody knows it is through hard work and a faith in God and country that you get ahead in this life. People who are not willing to work should not be able to collect. In fact, the government should not be in the business of providing healthcare or any other entitlements. It should only be there to sign treaties and provide for our common national defense. If citizens are truly in need, it should first be up to the family and then the church or charitable organizations to take care and provide for the unfortunate in our society. Socialist depend on taxation, but taxing citizens is the root of all evil in society. Once it begins under the guise of providing for the common good, politicians and lobbyists rush in and spend every last dime on folly and when the funds are gone, they demand more taxes to spend on more folly and so it goes. Hand in hand with taxation is regulation, federal regulation. Socialists always demand regulation after regulation. It always leads to government intrusion into our lives and ultimately the restriction of our personal freedom. There can be no good come to this country, if socialists ruled.

Damn capitalist! If it were up to them, the wealthiest 5% would pay no taxes at all. The rest of the country would be left to scramble for the crumbs on their tables and be grateful for their trickle down sustenance. The wealthy should be taxed higher than anyone in our society. They owe it to the rest of us that did not have the advantages of wealth and privilege. The very wealthy owe the rest of society because their greed and excess cause things like poverty, foreclosures and the lack of jobs for people who want to work in this country. They exploit cheap labor in third world counties at the expense of jobs here at home. To them, government regulation is seen as an impediment, something that needs to be minimized, if not eliminated. To them, regulations are not seen as a necessity for protecting society and our environment. Instead, they hinder a free market. Everything depends on a free market economy and entrepreneurship, and of course maximizing the big “P,” profit. Taxation is the other great impediment to capitalists. Why should they be taxed to provide entitlements for the less fortunate in our country? How is the care and welfare of the poor and the elderly their problem? As they see it, their only responsibility is to maximize profits for their shareholders and themselves. America would be a cold, heartless place, if capitalists were left in charge.

The problem with both views and all their accompanying rhetoric is that no one sees or understands that we are all connected, rich and poor alike. We all depend on each other. The capitalist needs people to buy their products, to invest in their plans and provide the capital for their next big thing. People need decent paying jobs, affordable homes and the ability to send their children to school and pursue their dreams. We all need access to affordable healthcare throughout our lives. And when we get old and are no longer as productive, we need to find a way to protect and care for ourselves and the needs of our loved ones. Every society has its share of poor, elderly and unfortunate people with disabilities. How a society deals with that part of their population says a lot about that society. Are they seen as a drag on society or do they have intrinsic value by their very being? If people want to work, but capitalists see more profit in moving jobs overseas, if capitalist sees fair taxation and regulations as a hindrance to profits, what does that say about them and the future of this once great country? If the socialist calls for an ever increasing tax burden by the government in order to provide for every possible need of every citizen, regardless of their actual need, abilities or willingness to work, how will that solve the crushing national debt facing our nation and future generations?

Again, no one sees that we are all interconnected to our neighbors. We see US vs. THEM. We see some as enemies. We label them with names like democrats, republicans, liberals, conservatives, socialists and capitalists. Once labeled, we each assume our roles and this battle continues. We block and we parry, trying to score rhetorical points, but in reality nothing gets done and both sides lose. At the end of the day, no jobs were created, people are still losing their homes, innovation was stifled, our national debt grew even larger, more teachers quit or got laid off, our environment got worse and we are still spending billions on two wars around the world. At the end of the day there was no progress. There was no cooperation. There were no solutions, just the same old blindness.

Food for THOUGHT…

Milestones

2011-05-31T14:51:00.000-07:00

When I was 13, I could not wait for the day I would turn 16 and procure a driver’s license. Driving a car would show the world that I was on my way to adulthood. Every red blooded American boy dreamed of the day he could take the keys to the family car and drive around the block, the envy of all his friends. When that day came, I saw it as a milestone, one of many in the life unfolding before me.

When I turned 18, I was required to register for the draft. The Vietnam War was raging and so was the anti war protest fever. I could be drafted and called upon to give my life for my country in a war that was becoming both confusing and unpopular. I could not legally buy a beer. I could not even buy a car without my parent’s signature, but I could be sent to war. To make things fairer, a new federal law allowed me to vote as if I was a full adult. I realized that another milestone was upon me, another marker in my quest for adulthood.

When I turned 21, I could not wait to try out my new public status. I had finally arrived. The law said I was now an adult. I could sign a contract and I could buy liquor. “Can I see some identification please?” was music to my ears when I was checking out at the grocery store. Yes, you may. Here, check my date of birth, if you please.

Turning 21 was an important milestone to be sure, but there were others, less age specific milestones, that followed. Life was marching on. There was my first professional job, marriage, the birth of my children, my first house and painfully divorce. Each milestone was a testament that life was unfolding just as it had for my own parents and their parents before them. My children’s graduation from college, marriage and grandchildren kind of snuck up on me, but still I failed to note that each successive milestone was also a passing of time. When you are 13, time seems forever. You are eternally young, healthy and full of yourself. Time is an inexhaustible commodity.

When I was checking out at the grocery store today, the young cashier asked me if I needed help getting my groceries in my car.

Food for THOUGHT…

Volunteering for Cats and Dogs

2011-05-28T19:56:00.000-07:00

Babs & Cali enjoying smell-a vision.

Last week Lisa and I went to a volunteer orientation meeting and became part of a legion of humans who care about homeless cats and dogs and volunteer their spare time so that loving homes can be found for these wonderful animals. We joined the Animal Defense League of Texas. They operate a no-kill shelter here in San Antonio and they depend on volunteers to help care for and socialize the shelter’s cats and dogs so they can be adopted.

The shelter operates a thrift shop and relies on public donations and adoption fees for funding. All pets are spayed, neutered, microchipped and vaccinated before they are placed in the adoption kennels. The shelter also has a veterinary hospital on the grounds to meet the needs of its resident animals. There are plenty of opportunities from administrative to hands-on positions for people who wish to get involved and volunteer their time and love for animals.

Lisa and I took in two homeless kittens from our neighborhood and each one was taken to our vet, checked out, spayed and vaccinated, so we are well aware of the need for such a shelter. In our own neighborhood we see stray cats and dogs aplenty. Some of them may in fact have homes, but many owners fail to spay or neuter their pets, which of course generate even more stray animals. Many of these homeless cats and dogs get hit by cars, die of illnesses and disease or succumb to predators like owls and hawks. Many more wind up in the city pound or shelters that kill animals that don’t get adopted by a certain time. To help stem the tide of so many strays, the Animal Defense League of Texas sponsors a low-cost spay and neuter program for the public. It is so sad to think how many of these animals die before they can find loving homes like our Cali and Babs. We just love our foundling cats and they have added so much to our lives.

For Lisa and I there was no question that we would be hands on volunteers. Lisa loves cats, so she chose to work with the cats in the “Cattery.” There is a real need to socialize many of the animals that come into the shelter so they will have a better chance of adoption. It also gives volunteers a chance to know their personalities to better match the cat with the adoptee. The cats can roam free in different rooms furnished with cat tree houses, carpeted perches and an enclosed porch. It’s a good environment to observe the different cats and their many behaviors. Some are very friendly and demand your attention while others are more aloof and want to be left alone. With only a few visits under belt, Lisa can already tell you all their names and describe their personalities. She loves getting her “kitty fix.” The only problem will be in not wanting to take them all home with us.

I love cats too, but I was also raised around dogs on our farm when I was growing up, so I have decided to split my time between the cats and the dogs. Today was my first time walking the shelter dogs. I didn’t have a leash yet so one of the animal care-givers gave me a leash and introduced me to my first dog. His name was Corey. Corey was recovering from surgery and had a bit of a limp and a wound on top of his head. I’m guessing he may have been hit by a car. It is suggested that we take dogs on 20 minute walks. The walks are very important when it comes to socializing the dogs. They get so excited and love humans to take them to the dog park on the grounds behind the kennels. The dog park is an open area with plenty of trees and benches. The dogs have to stay on their leash while in the park, but there are pens to one side where you can take off the leash and let them run. The pens have dog toys and plastic water pools and they have a great time. I walked three other dogs before it was time to leave and met some of the other volunteer dog walkers in the process. One of the “old timers” asked me to help walk a pair of Deer Hounds who need to be adopted together. They are in the same pen and also get walked together. They are too much dog for one volunteer so I agreed to help. In the process, I got a lot of insight on the dogs.

One of the sad realities of shelter life is that black animals, both cats and dogs are the first to be euthanized since they are less likely to be adopted. Even when they come into our no kill shelter, adopters are less likely to choose the black animals. Sadly, they are too often overlooked, even when it comes to attention and walking by volunteers. The shelter is trying to make everyone aware of this strange phenomenon and post reminders around the kennels. Some older animals are never adopted and spend the rest of their lives in the shelter, but they are well cared for. Thankfully, most of the animals move in and out of the shelter to new homes fairly quickly. By helping to socialize these animals, we help insure a successful adoption.

Lisa and I had a great morning with our new pals.

Food for THOUGHT…

Cut or Tax?

2011-05-19T21:29:00.000-07:00

The Problem: We have a huge national debt that’s growing and no political will to fix it.

Solution #1: Cut education funding. Privatize healthcare. Do away with Social Security. Shrink the size of government and what government is responsible for providing its citizens. Cut taxes and federal regulations on small business and large corporations. Leave the free market alone to create jobs and put Americans back to work. Everything will trickle down to the neediest in society.

Solution #2: Increase taxes on the wealthiest Americans, large corporations, and big banks. Initiate tax reform to make sure everyone is paying their fair share of taxes. This may mean things like cutting federal subsidies paid to large oil companies raking in huge profits from the bogus rise in the price of oil. Enforce new financial reforms, regulations and safeguards on Wall Street and recover federal bailout money with interest. Look for ways to streamline and operate programs like Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security more efficiently using the latest in modern technology. Take the extra tax revenue, the savings from improved efficiency and recovered bailout money and use it to pay down the debt. Invest some of this increased revenue to create jobs and put people back to work (IN THIS COUNTRY…PLEASE!) so they can get off unemployment, retrain, if needed, and begin paying taxes with the rest of us. If we can increase revenue and reduce waste and inefficiency, we can not only save, but improve those federal social programs that sustain the elderly, the poor, women, children, students and the disadvantaged in America.

I may have overlooked some things, but we need to look at the two solutions being proposed by the political partisans in Washington and decide as a nation…which one is going to help the most Americans. Which solution works? Which solution is the most moral? Or do any of them work? Is there another solution that no one is talking about? Does it have to be one or the other “come hell or high water?”

Give me your ideas, please.

Food for THOUGHT…

Finding Childhood Friends on Facebook

2011-05-07T15:25:00.000-07:00

Several weeks ago I decided to search Facebook for an old child hood friend. I remembered that his family had a TV back in the 50’s when television was just coming on the scene. Not every household in America had one so it was a real treat when my mother and I were invited over to watch this strange new gadget. My friend and I would watch The Mickey Mouse Club, The Adventures of Davy Crockett, Roy Rogers and the Lone Ranger. My mother and his mother enjoyed the Perry Como Show when our programs were over. I became enthralled with this glowing box that brought music, cowboys and adventure into American living rooms each week.

I have this memory of me, my friend Jimmy and his older brother, Bobby. We were at the back of their dad’s restaurant in the alley that sloped down toward the next street over. The brothers had devised a red, Radio Flyer wagon with a cage of wooden coke bottle crates wired together on top. The idea was that one of us was going to climb inside and have the other two push the contraption down the alley toward the street without crashing, but that is where my memory fails me. I can’t remember what happened next! I think it crashed, but we all survived somehow to be stupid another day.

Jimmy was one of my earliest friends that I can remember. We were like Mutt and Jeff. I was the smaller one of the duo. He could always make me laugh. Train tracks ran just behind Jimmy’s backyard and when a train passed through town the ground would rumble and the blare of the horn was deafening. This was great fun, especially when my friend would pump his arm to see if the engineer would blow the horn an extra time or two.

When my mother remarried, we moved to a farm some distance away. My friend Jimmy and I didn’t get to see each other that often, but when he got to come out for a visit, we had a great time running around the farm and playing like old times. Jimmy’s mom was offered a job out in California, so they moved away when I was around 9 or10, I think. We never saw each other again and soon I lost track of him for almost 50 years until we reconnected on Facebook a few weeks ago.

It was amazing how our lives tended to parallel one another once we began to catch up and compare notes. We both had married and divorced and had children, but the strangest thing was realizing that when we had parted, we were just young kids and now we were talking about our…grandkids. Almost 60 years of life has left big gaps in the space-time continuum. We were supposed to be 10 years old, but now we are grandpas. I found this picture of Jimmy and me as I began working on my “60 Years Project” (whatever that turns out to be).

My next friend, Kyria, turned the tables and tracked ME down on Facebook. I remember her as the cute little girl who lived up the alley and across the street from the apartment where my mom and I lived. The apartment was situated over the bakery of Jimmy’s dad’s restaurant. To this day, I have wonderful memories of the days cinnamon rolls were baked below and the sweet smell drifted up the stairs to our place. Anyway, Kyria and I were playmates as far back as I can remember. She had curly blond hair in ringlets and a sunny smile and I had a crush on her at the age of 5. I remember a sandbox near a church behind the minister’s house. He had two older daughters, perhaps they were teenagers, but they treated us very well, as I recall. We had great times playing in the sand and the dirt of that backyard.

There is one memory that just will not go away, but I don’t know if it actually happened or not. I had just gotten cleaned up and changed into my nice clothes. My mother and I were walking down the alley heading for Kyria’s house. I think we were going to a party there. It had rained and there was this big puddle in the street in front of her house. I got it in my head to sit down in the puddle. It seemed so inviting. So I did to the shrieks and laughter of Kyria and her mom. My poor mother was mortified, but I was happy.

Again, when my mother remarried and we moved out to our farm, those carefree days of play with Kyria came to an end. I don’t remember seeing her after the move and like Jimmy, I lost track of her. When we connected again on Facebook that “old time-warp thing” happened again where we were discussing our grandchildren before I knew it. The years have been very kind to my friend and when I looked at her Facebook photos, I could still see that little girl with the curly hair and the sunny smile. I scrambled through my old pictures to see if I still had that one picture of us playing in the dirt almost 50 years ago. Well, I found it here it is.

It seems like time flies by the older I get and memories of my early childhood and the friends I had back then are fading with each passing year. That’s why this is such a gift to be able to find and catch up on the lives of my two oldest childhood friends, but then life is full of surprises as I approach the big 60.

Food for THOUGHT…

The Middle East…Close to Home?

2011-05-03T21:26:00.000-07:00

This has been an interesting year in the Middle East with revolts in Tunisia, Egypt, Somalia, Libya and now Syria. Why are so many Middle Eastern countries rising up against their governments? What is going on? What do they have in common?

1) Wealthy, out of touch and politically elite governments?

2) Wide economic disparity between the haves and have nots?

3) Repressive leaders and political parties in power for years?

4) Poorly educated citizens?

5) High unemployment?

6) Controlled media full of propaganda?

7) Violence?

Could America be headed down the same path or are we perhaps already there? I wonder. Would Americans rise up here in this country like those other Middle Eastern countries now in violent revolt?

Well, just because we have wealthy, out of touch politicians in Washington, many owing their campaign funds to large corporations, banks and lobbyists, that is no indicator that America is going down the same path…is it? Sure, there are a lot of people out of work and losing their homes to foreclosure (thanks to many of those same powerful people), but every economy has its up and downs and people, corporations and big banks have a right to make a buck however they can, right? The wealthiest among us need to make obscene profits so they can run things for the rest of us, don’t they? It’s all about money, power and let’s not forget…control, right?

As far as repressive leaders and political parties…PLEASE! We live in a free and open society as Americans, don’t we? Political parties would never propose laws that would limit our pursuit of life, liberty and happiness, would they? Don’t women have the freedom to choose matters related to their reproduction and health? I mean like the IRS isn’t going to one day call them in and ask them how they paid for an abortion, are they? Librarians can lend any kind of books to anyone and not have to worry about some scary government agency looking over their shoulders, don’t you think? And as far as freedom of speech, can’t we talk about anything we want without being labeled a “terrorist” or “anti-American?” I mean nothing would happen to us if we decided to protest OUR government loudly in the streets, would it? We can travel anywhere in the world we want, as long as our names are not on the “No Fly List.” And while we are at it, our unions are still there to protect hard-won rights for American workers without any government threats at all, correct?

And then there is education in America. What’s the big deal if we have to make some cuts in education to solve our budget crisis? We have been falling behind other nations for years now when it comes to education. We don’t need well educated citizens in order to watch FOX (fair & balanced) News, attend Tea Party rallies or even get elected to office, do we? Donald Trump, Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh have all the news and opinions these folks need to know to get by in the New Republican Tea Party World, don’t they? And besides, don’t you think that only the sons and daughters of the wealthy and the elite need to go to college anyway, since they will be running things in the future? Higher education should only be for those in charge of things, right?

There have also been a lot of shorts tied in knots over the cost of American healthcare and Social Security. Here’s the deal. We need to cut the deficit, right? When these programs are eliminated, the old and the sick will just die off when they cannot afford medical care or retirement, don’t you think? Perhaps this will do two things. It will save tons of money that will help pay off our national debt. There won’t be anyone around to stage violent protests calling for the downfall of our government since the leeches on our society will be sick, starving or dead. Problem solved…don’t you think?

And I was worried. LOL.

Food for THOUGHT…

Paul Ryan and the New Republican Deal

2011-04-20T16:11:00.000-07:00

An editorial from The New York Times, dated Monday, April 18th, states that congressional budget chairman, Republican, Paul Ryan’s budget blueprint is part of a “project to dismantle the foundations of the new Deal and the Great Society, and to liberate business and the rich from the inconveniences of oversight and taxes.” The Republican Party and their Tea Party allies have approved the “most regressive social legislation in many decades.”

Is this the New Republican Deal? If so, what does it mean for America? Let’s take a look:
1) Paul Ryan’s bill would end the guarantee provided by Medicare and Medicaid to the elderly and the poor. Americans now under 55 would likely have to pay an additional $6,400 or more a year for their healthcare once they qualify for Medicare under the proposed voucher system according to the Congressional Budget Office. They would be responsible for any premium increases by the insurance industry over and above what the government would pay with its set voucher. This would be a nightmare for elderly Americans on fixed incomes, but save the government billions.
2) According to this New York Times editorial, two-thirds of Ryan’s $4.3 trillion in budget cuts would come from low-income programs.
a. Ryan’s plan would cut food stamps by $127 billion, or 20 percent over the next 10 years increasing hunger among the poor.
b. It would cut Pell grants for all 9.4 million students next year, removing as many as one million from the program.
c. 100,000 low-income children would be removed from the Head Start Program.
d. It would also slash job-training programs for the unemployed needing to learn new skills in a post recession America that sees jobs being sent overseas to exploit cheap labor.
3) Bush era tax cuts would be preserved and even expanded under Ryan’s legislation.
4) Finally, this bill would reduce regulation on business and the environment.

This new Republican Deal is expanding out to statehouses across America with new Republican governors and Republican controlled state legislatures. They have made it politically difficult to raise taxes and at the same time targeted funding cuts to things like education, mental health and juvenile justice. Several states have cut their unemployment benefits below the standard 26 weeks. Republican Arizona Governor Jan Brewer has proposed removing 138,000 people from Medicaid in her state. According to the Times editorial, several states, like Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana, Maine and Florida have used the “smokescreen of a poor economy to pursue a long-held conservative goal of destroying public and private unions.” Some states are even adopting Arizona –style anti-immigration laws making life difficult for legal citizens with profiling and detention.

It seems to me that none of this proposed state and federal legislation has anything to do with job creation or tax reform that would do the most to reduce this country’s deficit. Some economists worry that in fact, it could draw America back into a major recession or even a depression. President Obama stated a few weeks ago that their (Republican) vision “is less about reducing the deficit than it is about changing the basic social compact in America.”

There is no doubt that Republicans want change, major change, drastic change. America would be a different place under this New Republican Deal. There is no question that America must get its financial house in order. The old tax and spend mentality and trickledown economics that both parties practiced got us into this mess and now there must be another way out. It will require some tough decisions and sacrifice on the part of all Americans, not just the poor, the elderly and the middle class.

In David DeGraw's report, "The Economic Elite vs. People of the USA,” he states that between 2002 and 2006 an astounding three-quarters of all the economy's growth was captured by the top 1%.in America. That 1% of the population now owns over 70% of all financial assets, an all time record. So why the steadfast refusal by the Republicans to have that top % of America pay a fair share of the taxes in this time of great need? Why should the wealthy in this country feel the least amount of pain and yet weald the greatest influence over our government? The wealthiest Americans among us must be an important part of the solution. Our country cannot be saved on the backs of the poor, the elderly and the middle class when the wealthiest hold the majority of the nation’s assets and influence.

I refuse to believe that over 50% of Americans now embrace this New Republican Deal, this new Republican vision for America. And yet, how do I explain the 2010 mid-term elections that sent Republican and Tea Party candidates to federal and state offices across this land, bent on making such draconian changes to the average American’s life? When did America stop caring for its elderly, the poor, the disadvantaged and about educating its children? When did it decide that hard won rights of unions were obsolete and doomed so that the wealthiest among us could become even richer and more powerful? When did my America get high jacked by Rupert Murdock, FOX News, Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh?

Progressives have another chance to vote in the 2012 elections. Don’t waste it. Don’t sit on your cans. Vote!

Food for THOUGHT…

The Fruit of the Tree

2011-04-13T21:49:00.000-07:00

There is a tree and it’s producing fruit. How do we judge that tree? Is it good or is it bad? We judge it by its fruit perhaps. Does it nourish and sustain us or is it poisonous? I suggest we judge things by their fruit.

There is a party that claims the mantle of fighting our national debt and governmental reform. Wonderful! Yes, we need both things. We need change. Things have gone horribly wrong. We have much fear. We are in a mess, a pickle! So what are the fruits of this wonderful party, this “tree party?” Attacks on healthcare reform, worker’s rights, women’s rights, Social Security, environmental protection, consumer protection, education and alternative energy all seem to be their low hanging fruit. They believe that smaller government with fewer taxes and regulations will save this country. Empower the wealthy and they will in turn create the jobs that will save our country and the world. They believe they can budget and tax cut their way to prosperity, if only they can get rid of the “clinging vines” that impede them.

Missing from their tree are things like tax reform so that the wealthiest 5% of Americans and corporations pay their fair share of taxes instead of being rewarded with tax cuts, loopholes and tax breaks that lead to jobs going overseas rather than staying in this country. Missing are things like cutting defense spending so that we are not buying weapons that even the Pentagon says it does not want and finding a way to end three wars that are sucking billions of dollars we don’t have. Missing are true regulation and reform of the financial, insurance and energy industries with the will to reign in the massive power and influence their lobbyists have in Washington. Missing from this tree is a plan to care for the poor, the elderly and the disadvantaged in America and not just see them as parasites on society. Missing is compassion and real solutions for the real poor and middle class Americans going through hard times right now.

There is a snake in this tree, however. It’s bidding us to come…take a bite of this “tree party’s” fruit! THEN…you will have all knowledge. Sssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss.

Food for THOUGHT…

A Drought of Good News

2011-04-06T14:25:00.000-07:00

Every morning I wake up here in South Texas and look to see if it rained overnight. March, 2011, was the driest on record. Rain keeps my garden growing and refreshes the Earth. I fear Texas is headed for another drought much like we had two years ago. I miss the rain. I miss the ability of the Earth to refresh itself.

So too, there is a drought of good news, not just here in Texas but around the world it seems. Every morning I’m greeted with the latest on Libya and the Japanese nuclear plants spewing radiation. I hear the pundits speculating on our government about to shut down. I mean what does that mean? Our government is about to shut down?! Then of course I hear that our schools facing devastating funding cuts because of the federal and state budget crisis. I hear that we are still recovering very slowly from our economy’s near meltdown in 2009 and that the government shutdown and layoffs from budget cuts could take us right back into the worst recession in our history. I hear talk of privatizing Medicare and having to wait until I’m 70 to collect Social Security, if it still exists when I’m 70.

Everywhere I turn there is bad news and worse news and I’ve stopped watching the nightly news and can barely stand to listen to my beloved NPR. Instead, I look for diversions to take my mind off of things, diversions like work. But even my job is filled with bad news and pending crisis. Will the state take over the Alamo? Will there be layoffs and cut backs? I want to run away from all this doom and gloom. I feel so helpless against Mother Nature with her tornadoes, droughts , earthquakes, tsunamis and hurricanes, but even more helpless against our own stupid humans, leaders, politicians, greedy corporate CEO’s and their manmade disasters. Is there no relief from this drought of good news?!

We have a pill for just about everything, why not…bad news? Perhaps we could seed the clouds and force it to rain good tidings over the Earth. Life without good news, without hope of better things to come is wearing me down.

Food for THOUGHT…

~The 60 Years Project~

2011-03-22T19:03:00.000-07:00

On November 17, 2011, I will have achieved 60 years on this tiny, green planet. There are milestones and then there milestones. I guess 60 is as good a place to stop and look at life as any. Some people decide to do something special, something daring, even dangerous to commemorate this landmark in their life, but since I’m afraid of heights (that rules out skydiving) and I’m in no shape to climb Mt. Everest. Something a little more down to earth might be in order for my 60th birthday.

I like history and I enjoy writing, so this idea began rattling around in my head as the big 6-0 approaches. What if I invited friends and family, in honor of my birthday, to write about life, their THOUGHTS, and the past 60 years? I would certainly welcome your best wishes, memories and stories about our past together, especially stories, but I don’t want to limit WHAT you write about and HOW you share it. A poem, an essay, pictures, photos, a DVD or a tape recording would all be acceptable submissions for this project.

I would be looking for both humor and insight into the human condition. What makes us who we are? What shaped us? Who were our mentors and teachers? What were your triumphs and failures, your joys and your tears? What lessons have you learned? What makes life worth living? If you have some great truth about life, share it with me. What is your take on the past 60 years on this planet? I’m after your…THOUGHTS!

I ask that you put some real feeling into what you submit for this project. I will consider your submission as a special gift, a 60th birthday present to me. I also realize that such a request might be overwhelming or intimidating for some and that is okay. Your thoughts and best wishes will always be enough of a present for me.

If you wish to participate in this project, please send your submission by my birthday 11/17/11. You may send it via e-mail to:

sortman808@aol.com (subject:: “The 60 Years Project”)

And if you need to send your submission by regular mail…contact me via e-mail for my mailing address.

I will send more reminders and suggestions later on.

Steve

2012 What is Next?

2011-03-15T13:38:00.000-07:00

The ancient Mayan calendar ends in the year 2012, for no apparent reason, leading some to prophesize the end of the World.

Since the beginning of the New Millennium, we have witnessed our share of disaster, including a shocking attack on our country, hurricanes, volcanic eruptions, a near collapse of the global economy, an oil spill in the Gulf and now a record earthquake and tsunami that has devastated Japan and led to an unprecedented nuclear crisis. Some experts say that if there is a major breach from the damaged Japanese reactors, deadly radiation could reach our Pacific coast in 6 to 12 days and travel on the winds to the rest of the world. It is easy to imagine why some would fear that the end of the world, or at least the end of the world as we humans know it, is near.

In the midst of all these natural and man-made disasters, we have dealt with the cost in both lives and money of two long wars springing from our War on Terror. We have endured a financial meltdown that this country has not seen since the Great Depression. The loss of jobs and the foreclosure of homes from this crisis and now the rising cost of gasoline have just about put the average American on the ropes emotionally and financially. To top it all off, are the political battles between liberal and conservative factions of this nation, not seen since the U. S. Civil War. The political climate has led to gridlock and stalemate in Washington and around the country at a time when we desperately need to cooperate and get things done.

I want so badly to turn off the news and just say, “That’s it. I’ve had it. No more.” But the ebb and flow of the news is always there and I have to somehow survive the onslaught of words, problems and threats and deal with it all. If a lethal wave of radiation does not kill me in the weeks to follow, I’ll surely have to deal with the idiots in Washington still battling it out over budget cuts to schools, Medicaid, same sex marriage and giving the richest bastards in the world tax breaks.

I invite you to join me in a prayer for our country, Japan and the world:

PEACE. CALM and PROTECTION.

May the White Light of Universal love and protection once again envelope this tiny green planet and sooth this Mother Earth and its inhabitants. May we come to REMEMBER that we are all connected to each other and that we are stewards, not owners and exploiters. May we REMEMBER that what we do to the least of our fellow beings and this planet that sustains us…we do to ourselves.

Amen.

One final thought. Mankind may indeed have come to a crossroads. One way will send us to our doom, proving the Mayan calendar true. But the other way, may just lead to a whole new life, a new human existence, a leap forward in our evolution. There are souls already here that are waiting to take us into a future that we can only imagine. (Read up on the Indigo Children.) Somehow, I’d like to think that God is not through with us yet. (A little pissed off perhaps, a little tired…yes) but He may just have some plans for us, some Great Plans! I may want to stick around to see what happens.

Food for THOUGHT…

Class Wars

2011-03-02T20:40:00.000-08:00

Is America in a class war? Conservative vs. Liberal?

More and more it seems that the Conservatives want to conserve their wealth, power, values and influence at all costs. They accuse Liberals of wanting to spread the wealth around, calling them “socialists.” Both camps have been fighting it out for decades, but never has our nation seemed as polarized as now. On one end of the spectrum you have the wealthiest Americans and large corporations influencing elections and law makers and at the other end you have the poor, the elderly, and the working class. Many of us in the middle class, struggling to pay our bills and put our kids through college are being caught in the crossfire of this class warfare.

How dare the Wall Street crowd and the large corporations who were bailed out by American taxpayers put their Conservative friends in office so they can call for devastating cuts in education, healthcare and other programs that sustain the very life for millions of poor and elderly in this country while they, the wealthiest, enjoy their Bush era tax cuts and the profits from two wars draining our federal coffers. How dare they bring this country to near ruin and tell the rest of us “let them eat cake!” They are already enjoying record profits while the rest of America struggles to recover from their excesses.

Progressives need to step up and fight for not only the poor, and the elderly, but the middle class as well by yes cutting waste, fraud and pork from our state and federal budgets, but also calling for those wealthy corporations and Americans to part with more of their money through tax reform, closing loopholes and dare I say… even tax increases. Everyone has to feel some pain, if we are going to get out of debt. If union workers are being asked to give up hard won collective bargaining rights, then Wall Street bankers and corporations should give up their tax cuts and loopholes. They should bring jobs back to America!

The solution to our staggering deficit can't just be draconian spending cuts on domestic programs (only 14% of the budget) demanded by Conservatives and the Tea Party. Neither will a solution come from tax reform and tax increases on the wealthy alone. It must be a working compromise from both camps. It must protect our economic recovery and still provide for our poor and the elderly. Also, it cannot be financed on the back of a struggling middle class wondering how they will be able to afford gas in their cars to get to a job that may be gone, if the economy goes back into recession again.

Education, health care, social security infrastructure and national security are important. We can’t throw the baby out with the bathwater while the “rabble” shouts off with their head. Waste, corruption and pork must be found and removed and new efficiencies and technologies must be embraced. Blindly gutting programs that made this country great will not save it in the end.

Me thinks this current group of wealthy, out of touch lawmakers and Tea Party radicals are not up to the task. I hope they prove me wrong. The fate of this once great country hangs in the balance.

Food for THOUGHT…

Elephants in the Room

2011-02-22T20:28:00.000-08:00

Our federal budget has ballooned with waste, “pork” and corruption over time expanding our nation’s deficit to the point it can no longer be swept under the rug or hidden away. We must cut spending and increase revenue to even begin paying down our debt. We have overcharged our national credit card. It is no longer good enough to pay the minimum amount each month ignoring the balance due and the interest on that balance due. I hope we can all agree on this sobering fact, but the devil is in the details. It is how we cut our spending and what we cut that will be interesting to follow.

I find it interesting that for some the first thing to be cut should be education and social programs for the poor and disadvantaged. Still others say that spending on Space, high speed trains and our nation’s infrastructure should be on the chopping block. Some are calling for the end of Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security which would have a tremendous impact on the elderly and the poor. One party seems to think that by heavily targeting only domestic spending (about 14 % of the total budget) that they can fix the total budget crisis. Everyone seems to be ignoring the “elephants in the room.”

Where are they on tax reform that would make our corporations and the wealthiest Americans actually pay their fair share? Many do not pay any taxes at all. In fact, they get tax breaks and incentives for taking American jobs to foreign countries to exploit cheap labor and maximize profits. But even making the tax codes fair will not solve the budget crisis, nor will only cutting domestic spending and social programs and education to the bone.

I think some of the biggest “elephants in the room” include defense spending and a military industrial complex that profits greatly from two wars half way around the world that are going on 10 years and counting. Just a small portion of that massive budget could fund education and most of our vital social programs for the poor and the elderly. Just a portion of that defense budget could create green jobs that could lead us off America’s dependency on foreign oil and improve our environment. It could lead to research and development of new technologies which would lead to more jobs that did not rely on death and destruction for profit and jobs.

As for Social Security, it is costing us nothing! It is still solvent, but it needs to be fixed for future generations. It can be fixed now to insure that it will be there for our grandkids. We are living longer than past generations so increase the age of retirement gradually, if needed, and reduce or eliminate benefits for those wealthy Americans who truly do not need them. Too many elderly Americans depend on Social Security to eliminate it, privatize it or raid the funds for other purposes, as is being proposed by some heartless, short-sighted, political idiots.

And when it comes to Medicare and Medicaid, don’t do away with them…fix them, too. Make them more efficient and fight healthcare fraud within the system. Take steps to make healthcare more affordable and accessible to all Americans. Reform the tort laws and give doctors incentives based on patient outcome and best practices so that our doctors don’t have to do test after expensive test to cover their butts from lawsuits. At the same time, eliminate conflict of interests between doctors and the testing facilities they may be invested in. Regulate the health insurance and pharmaceutical industries. For God’s sake, why does our heath care cost twice as much as the rest of the world? Why should Americans have to pay so much more for the same lifesaving medicine that our neighbors in Canada and Mexico can have for a fraction of the cost?

Foreign aid may be a necessary part of diplomacy and who we are as a country, but at what point do we turn off the spigot to those countries that hate our guts and often use our aid money and the weapons they buy from us against us. Too often it goes to enrich their corrupt leaders with poor human rights records at the expense of their impoverished citizens? It is like continuing to dole out money to drunks on the street when we don’t have enough money to fix our own house or put food on our own table for our family. When do we stop giving out money that we don’t have?

Yes, we have “elephants in the room!” Will our nation’s leaders get up the courage to fix what needs fixing? Will they regulate banks, corporations and the insurance industry? Will they reform the tax codes so that wealthy Americans and large corporations pay their fair share? Will they end those two wars that have sapped our nation’s wealth and the lives of too many young Americans so that we can channel portions of the defense budget for education and research and development that will lead to a green economy and finally break our addiction to foreign oil?

Yes, we have “elephants in the room.”

Food for THOUGHT…

On Diabetes

2011-02-09T12:36:00.000-08:00

Me at 155 lbs.

Early last year, I had parted ways with the doctor who diagnosed my diabetes in 2007. I came to him with double vision and an A1C score of 8.9 (a very high average blood sugar reading over a 90 day period). I had not been to see a doctor in years. There was concern that I had suffered a stroke because of my double vision. A cat-scan was scheduled, but at the last minute I chose to cancel it. I decided to see if the other cause was my high blood sugar that went undiagnosed over a long period of time. It was a gamble, but my intuition and the out of pocket cost for the scan made me hold off and wait. If I got my blood sugar down with medication, diet and exercise, my normal vision might return. For months I wore an eye patch, tested myself twice a day and took different medicines until my doctor settled on the new drug, Januvia. I took classes on living with diabetes and began to change my lifestyle. I had to watch what I ate and how much I ate. I began to go for walks and work outside on landscaping around the house and garden. I went from 155 lbs. to 132 lbs. and after many months, my eyesight finally returned to normal. My A1C score was now down to 6.1 (normal).

Through all of this, I was given to understand that once you had diabetes, you had it for life. I would have to have checkups every three months, call in prescriptions for testing supplies, and the high priced, brand name drug that seemed to be working. I would have to track everything I ate and prick my finger at least once a day. My medications and testing supplies would run about $50 a month with my insurance, but if I ever lost my job and or insurance coverage, I could easily pay $200-$300 a month and doctor visits would cost over $100 every visit, not counting blood tests and lab tests. There was a lot to keep me on the straight and narrow, but it just bothered me that for the rest of my life I would be tethered to medicines and doctors. I was now a diabetic with a pre-existing condition.

For years I kept the routine office visits and trips to the Target Pharmacy. I dreaded the long hours I would wait in my doctor’s office for the 15 minute face to face with him and refills on my prescriptions. The waits grew longer and longer with no explanations. Several times my appointment was cancelled without notice. I got fed up and decided to see what would happen if I slowly got off my medicine and focused on my diet and exercise. I had this vision of beating my diabetes. I had this vision of taking control and letting my body heal itself.

After months of taking my Januvia every other day and adding cinnamon to my daily regimen of vitamins and supplements, I found that my daily blood sugar test results had not gotten worse. In fact, it seemed to actually be the opposite. My test results were getting better. I was almost out of my Januvia and decided to find another doctor. My new doctor did a blood work up and some other tests last November. My A1C score was 6.4 after I had cut back on the Januvia prescribed by my original doctor. At that time we discussed going off my medication for 3 months to see how it affected my A1C score. I would continue to log what I ate and test every day. My new doctor was willing to work with me, based on a graph of my testing results that I did for him. If my A1C score did not go over 7.0 by my next appointment, he might consider keeping me off the medication and continue to monitor me going forward. If I did need to go back on medication, he could prescribe one of the $4.00 diabetes drugs now available at Target, Wal-Mart and HEB pharmacies. My insurance co pay, for such drugs has now risen from $20 to $40 for a month’s supply so that was a real cost savings.

I went back today for my follow-up appointment. After three months of being off my medicine for diabetes, my A1C score rose only slightly to 6.7. My doctor not only has agreed to let me stay off medication, but said I no longer need to test every day. I need to monitor my blood pressure occasionally to make sure it stays in the normal range, but for now I can stay drug free. My vision is coming true and I plan to have an A1C score of 6.4 or better by my next visit. Diet and exercise will now be my weapons of choice.

I’m learning that we can put our intentions out there… and the Universe responds. Keep you posted!

Food for THOUGHT…

Dancing with the Wind

2011-02-02T14:50:00.000-08:00

I finished a book, Soul Stories, by the New Age writer, Gary Zukav. In it, he presents the idea that our goals in life should be:

1) Harmony
2) Cooperation
3) Sharing
4) Reverence for life

It made me think how often my goals in life have nothing to do with any of the above. They all seem so simple and lovely ideas that I should have learned in Sunday school when I was growing up. Yet, our human nature seems compelled to want just the opposite for some reason.

If I were a visitor from another planet, I would guess that Humans were all about Chaos. Watching the news, I would observe that Humans are constantly running around the world competing over resources, rioting when they want something and killing when they feel they must to come out on top. I would conclude that Humans, in general, were anything but a harmonious group of creatures, always fighting, always struggling for something.

I might observe that when one group of Humans builds something of which they are proud, another group comes in and knocks it down, votes it out, blows it up or burns it down. The idea of cooperation is foreign to these strange creatures. They would rather build up and tear down something a hundred times rather than come together and build a sturdy something once that all could use and be proud of. Humans seem to feel that if they cooperate, they would have to compromise what they want for themselves for the greater good of others. THAT would be unacceptable!

When it comes to sharing with these Humans, look out! Too often, you will literally be in a fight for your life. They have this idea that whoever can obtain the most marbles, money, food, water (you name it), has the power to control the rest of the Humans. If there are only so many carrots on an island, but there are enough to feed everyone on the island, you can bet that one or more of the Humans will find a way to corner the market on carrots and make the other Humans pay for their carrots. Some Humans will, of course, starve with no carrots at all, but that’s okay in their way of thinking. I have mine. Now you go find yours. Now, just think what these Humans would do if the resources were limited, if there was not enough to go around.

By far, the most curious thing about these Humans is their lack of concern for life (plant, animal or vegetable). By their way of thinking, some Humans are far more valuable than others. Their value is determined by their wealth, strength, knowledge and social status, among others. Humans of far lesser value on their value scale can be sacrificed for the greater good of the more valued. It would also seem to apply for this planet’s plants and animals as well. Far better that a forest be cut down and rare animals face extinction than some Human project fail to enrich those valuable Humans at the top with their power and wealth. All life is NOT created equal is what I would observe about these Humans. In general, they show no reverence for life, except perhaps their own.

Thank God I don’t believe everything I see on the Nightly News.

Food for THOUGHT…

The Obama Record

2011-01-25T17:52:00.000-08:00

It has been amazing when I think of all the things President Obama and the Democrat controlled congress accomplished in their first two years in office, despite the overwhelming challenges they faced. In spite of two wars, an economy in freefall, record deficits, and a health care system in crisis, not to mention an unparalleled, ecological disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, this administration prevailed and got things done.

But thanks to partisan politics, filled with hateful rhetoric and outright fear mongering, the midterm elections returned power in the House of Representatives to the Republican / Tea Party crowd. Their first agenda was not to help those who need it most, but to repeal the historic Heath Care Reform Bill that would affect millions of Americans and to block any further progress by this President. Swept up in all the fear and half truths being spewed about by the media, political pundits and the internet, millions of Americans are calling for their new representatives to tear down and destroy all the progress of the past two years without a workable plan to replace it.

Before you throw the baby out with the bath water, my fellow Americans, please consider what THIS administration has accomplished…

I) Rebuilding Our Economy

1. Wall Street Reform-New Rules for the Big Banks!

2. Middle-class Tax cuts- Under the “Recovery Act” 95% of tax payers saw reduced taxes and extended unemployment benefits.

3. Credit Card Reform- A new Consumer Protection Agency!

4. Building a Clean Energy Policy- New emissions and fuel efficiency standards!

II) Historic Health Reform

1. The “Affordable Health Care Act”

2. Children’s Health Insurance- Extending SCHIP Program to 4 million low income children.

III) National Security

1. Ending Combat Operations in Iraq- 100,000 troops being removed.

2. Passing the START Treaty-Moving toward a world with fewer nuclear weapons and mutual inspections and verification.

3. A new strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan to defeat Al Queda and end our combat involvement.

IV) Education

1. Reforming Student Loans- Saving $68 Billion over 10 years.

2. Spurring Innovation in Education-With programs like “Race to the Top” and “Educate to Innovate.”

3. A New GI Bill- The “Post 9/11 GI Bill’ that will help more veterans go to college.

V) Civil Rights

1. Repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”

2. New Protection Against Hate Crimes- “The Hate Crimes Prevention Act”

3. Fair Pay for Women- The “Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act”

We still have a long way to go and we have a lot left to do, but there has been real progress over these last two years, despite Republican efforts to block almost every attempt to get things done, while offering very little in the way of ideas that help average Americans. Yes, we do need to do something about the deficit, but cutting vital services and programs to Americans hard hit by a terrible recession is not a solution. In an America where more and more of its wealth is going to the wealthiest 5%, perhaps it is time for the Wall Street crowd and big corporations to pay their fair share for a change. No civilization stands for long once they destroy their thriving middle-class.

To our Republican / Tea Party congressmen and senators, I urge you to take this time in history to work together in a civil manner and get things done. We have much to do as a nation. Millions of Americans are counting on you to do the right thing. If you continue to block, stall and vote against everything and yet offer nothing in return but fear and rhetoric…you will destroy our country!

Food for THOUGHT…

Debate Don’t Hate

2011-01-12T19:37:00.000-08:00

Well, we started the New Year off with a shooting and among the victims was a popular Democrat, a U.S. congresswoman. The shooter was another lone gunman with mental delusions who buys a weapon (easiest thing in the world) and dreams of making headlines. It has been interesting seeing all the politicians running for cover and pointing their fingers. Who is to blame? It’s all the vicious, political rhetoric! It’s the media: Glenn, Rush, Sarah and Fox News! Blame! Blame! Blame!

It has been curious listening to many of the politicians calling for body guards and extra security to protect them when they go out into the public (at the taxpayers’ expense, of course). Perhaps they should have thought about the dangers of public life before they ran for office. And maybe they should have thought about pissing off the public with all their partisan rhetoric while accomplishing little, other than adding to the national debt and enriching their friends as well as themselves with pork.

All this finger pointing and hand wringing aside, I have a solution. It is called the “Politician Mobile.” You see the Pope had a good idea with the Pope Mobile. He gets to ride around in the back of a pick-up truck while he’s encased in clear, bullet-proof glass. No worries about gun toting crazies. It’s simple. Now, we put our politicians in one of these babies and they can go riding through whole crowds of angry constituents while smiling and waving to their heart’s content. What’s more American than riding around in the back of a pick-up truck? We could outfit them with mechanical arms so they can reach out and shake hands and hold babies… (Well, maybe the baby thing not so much). But the point is, they would be safe and we could see them. It might be hard to hear them inside their glass cases… but that’s okay. Politicians seen and not heard? That might just work better.

Okay, that’s a bit extreme, but so is the idea of taxpayers paying for all the congressmen to have security and body guards when they are out and about in public. So what to do? Well, perhaps everyone should just take a deep breath and realize that civility, courtesy and respect go a long way to getting things done in Washington. The spewing of hatred and fear just gets people stirred up. It comes back to bite us in the butt. Let’s all just take a big step back from the precipice. Take a deep cleansing breath and think good thoughts.

Let’s try something really radical… let’s debate instead of hate. Otherwise, I’m investing in that company that makes those Pope Mobiles.

Food for THOUGHT…

Change and Changing

2011-01-01T15:42:00.000-08:00

As 2010 comes to a close, I note that the one thing that remains constant in my life is… change. Nothing remains static forever. Even the mountains wash to the sea in time and seas dry up and become deserts. Life is conceived, born, lives and eventually… dies. So is the circle of creation and dissolution with birth and death constantly moving, changing and evolving, one generation preceding the next. The Universe rolls on.

We live in chaotic, changing times. Political leaders struggle for our hearts, minds and souls and yet their empires crumble and fall. It is the Present moment that is timeless. The past is gone and the future hasn’t happened yet. All we really have is the Now. It is one of the biggest concepts I’ve had to wrap my mind around. Like many of us, I suppose, I have fretted things in my past and feared things to come. In the process, I’ve missed being fully in the present. Too often, I have missed smelling the roses, enjoying sunsets, tasting a well prepared meal and listening to what people have to say.

But each year we get another chance to get it right, to set things straight. We get a whole new year as a do over. So Happy New Years everyone!

Food for THOUGHT…

A Christmas Miracle?

2010-12-22T21:46:00.000-08:00

After so much partisan back and forth in Washington over the first two years of President Obama’s administration, it was amazing to realize just how much was accomplished considering all the road blocks and negative rhetoric. To name just a few, Congress has passed TARP stimulus programs, a Financial Reform Bill, including new consumer protection laws along with a national Healthcare Reform bill. And what to my wondering eyes should appear, but a true Christmas Miracle in the form of bipartisan support in the weeks just before Christmas. We saw Republicans break ranks from the “Party of No” and give us a Tax Cut deal and extension of Long Term Unemployment Benefits. We got the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, the ratification of the START Treaty with Russia. And just in, it looks good for passage of the bill giving benefits to our first responders to the 9/11 Attack. All in all, it was a miraculous legislative performance by this “lame-duck” congress. They needed bipartisan support to get things done and they did it. Well done.

Of course, neither side got everything they wanted, but the fact that both sides compromised and moved ahead to get anything done was amazing. And yes, there are many things that were left undone like immigration reform, energy policies, environmental protections and rebuilding our nation’s infrastructure, not to mention a national commitment to green technology and green jobs, but the politicians broke ranks and actually got things passed. That is what America has been calling for! Stop the political sabotage and name calling and get on with America’s business.

To my further amazement, I did some research and found that a number of lesser known legislation was passed by the Congress during Obama’s administration. They are:

The Healthy, Hunger- Free Kids Act - It provides for immediate reform of the foods students receive in schools with more nutritious food to help fight obesity.

Fairness for Farmers Legislation - It passed measures to pay long awaited settlements to Indian and African American farmers for past discrimination by the Department of Agriculture.

The U.S. Manufacturing Enhancement Act - It gives companies an incentive to manufacture and produce products right here in America.

The Plain Writing Act of 2010 - Its goal is to simplify government documents so that we the people can read and understand them.

The Race to the Top Grant Program - For the first time the program will use a point system to efficiently prioritize federal grant money for education to states with the highest marks.

Health Care and Education Affordability Reconciliation Act of 2010 - It will cut out the profit taking “middle men” (large banks and financial institutions) and handle student loans directly. It provides for a more reasonable income-based repayment program making loans more affordable. The savings will be used to provide more Pell Grants.

Who knew?! (Source: AOL News)

Perhaps the new Republican/Tea Party dominated House of Representatives in January will bring back the “Party of No” and Washington will once again return to gridlock and partisan bickering. Perhaps Senator Mitch McConnell will continue his call to limit President Obama to one term by any means, even if it is at the expense of what America needs, but this little, bipartisan, Christmas miracle was so refreshing. Perhaps Congress will like the feeling of getting things accomplished so much that they will want to continue doing so… Na! Then what would I have to write about?

Food for THOUGHT…

A Prayer of Restoration to Mother Earth

2010-12-18T11:22:00.000-08:00

Out of all the things I could have written about after weeks of partisan rhetoric and discord in Washington and around the world, this prayer was sent to me by a friend. In times of trouble, strife and fear, what better thing than to pray? And what better prayer than one that resonates with my Cherokee ancestry:

Prayer of restoration to Mother Earth (Chief Iktomi Sha)

prayed at the peace ceremony, Ieper (Belgium), 19th December 2010

We pray,

Mother Earth,

Forgive us,

Not only for the innocent blood we have spilled and let flown on you,

since the beginnings of time,

but also forgive us, for the dark secrets we have concealed and hidden in your lap,

since the beginnings of time.

We ask that the spirits and the souls of all who have been judged, tortured or killed,

in the name of forced beliefs or for any other reason,

that their spirits and souls may be freed,

and be free to go to their families in the spirit world, to their homelands.

That this may bring peace in the hearts of their relatives.

We ask the spirits of all who have gone before who have been silenced, suppressed or destroyed

in the name of power or forced beliefs,

we ask that their spirits, from this moment forward, may become strongly active to bring renewal,

that they may bring us back in contact with pure divine energy, with the pure essence of spirituality.

This renewal will help all people on earth to restore the balance that is necessary for all of us,

and for our children of the next seven generations and after.

It will allow the children of our children to live in harmony and wholeness, with a good heart.

We are all related.

Let it be.

May we all pray for this divided nation of ours, our leaders and our future leaders and for the world in which we now live. We can continue with our hatred, fear, mistrust, ignorance, prejudice and anger or we can realize that in the end… “We are all related.” We are one. And what we do to each other and to the World… we do to ourselves. Peace.

Food for THOUGHT…

And so it goes...

2010-12-04T22:20:00.000-08:00

Today the Senate Republicans all voted in lock step, as they have these past two years of the Obama administration, to frustrate, lock up, embarrass and discredit any attempt to get things done. Republican leadership has openly vowed to make Obama a one term president. They vowed to block any piece of legislation until the Bush tax cuts for all Americans (including the wealthiest 2% of tax payers) are extended. This same Republican leadership also informed America that extending the long term unemployment bill for millions of Americans forced out of work by a recession caused by some of those wealthiest 2% of tax payers (the Wall Street million and billionaires) was not going to happen unless money was found to fund it. It would only add to our growing deficit.

So let me get this straight…Mr. “Sourpuss” and his side-kick, Mr. “Hell-No” are going to give everyone a big, fat tax increase starting next year and cut off the life-line to millions of out of work Americans who can’t find jobs because of the poor economy unless they get their way, unless their wealthy pals, the 2% of all taxpayers get a tax break that they neither need nor do they deserve. This tax break to the wealthiest 2% will cost our country $700 billion in lost revenue over 10 years that could go toward paying down the national debt or even extending the long term unemployment bill for millions of American families.

Hmmm… Helping a few wealthy pals or doing what’s right for millions of America’s middle class, working poor and those out of work with no hope of finding a job in this struggling economy. That’s a tough one! Well, apparently not for our Republican “Party of No” folks because today they ALL voted to block what would seem to be a most reasonable solution with time running out. It was back to Washington politics as usual.

Is it any surprise that our congress has the lowest approval rating in our nation’s history? Is it any wonder that Americans are angry and calling for change? And yet these political leaders continue to play their partisan games and “fiddle while Rome burns.” The good of this country and its people…be damned!

And so it goes…

Food for THOUGHT…

Thanksgiving

2010-11-24T20:05:00.000-08:00

Me and my Grandpa Tipton.

Last week I survived my 59th birthday. It was quiet and peaceful. No big deal. Lisa and I spent an enjoyable day together in downtown San Antonio. It struck me that I’m on the last year of my 50’s and I’ve been having little flashbacks of my life. It’s like my brain is determined to play back little video clips all the way back to my early childhood. It’s almost like I’m watching another person’s memories because so much time has passed, so much has changed…except they are my memories from my life.

In one clip, I am back to the age of 14. It’s Christmas and my mother and father and my younger brother and sister are all living in our drafty old farmhouse in Central Illinois. My parents are young and I’ve never been married, never gone off to college, never started my first real job, and never started my own family. In this moment of time, THIS is my family…the five of us. It only lasted a second, but in that moment all the sights and sounds and smells of that Christmas came flooding back to me and I was there. But, just as quickly, I am back in my 59 year old body, living with my wife Lisa in San Antonio, Texas and both my parents have passed away. My brother and sister are in their 40’s and 50’s and I have 3 grandchildren with number 4 on the way.

When I am in these flashbacks, they seem so real. It’s a little like Kurt Vonnegut in his book, Slaughter House Five. In my case, I am zapping back and forth between past and present like some kind of time traveler, but only for a second or two at a time. I get a sense of how much I have changed over time, how different I am from who I was back then. In one moment, I am a child living with parents and siblings and the next, I am a husband, father and grandfather. There is a part of me that wants to linger as the child with my parents, but another part of me that can’t wait for the next chapter of my life to begin.

Inside this 59 year old body, I’m still this young, strong, 17 year old boy thinking he is going to live forever until I look in the mirror, until my muscles ache and I feel like taking a nap. The 17 year old tells my body to plant some trees, dig a garden and chop firewood until the 59 year old says perhaps tomorrow. Inside there is this “core being” that never seems to age, but he takes notes on all the changes…and adjusts. Today, I’ll take a nap and perhaps tomorrow…I’ll move the world.

Approaching my sixth decade of life on this planet has made me introspective. You see, Life is all about change. We don’t stay children. We grow up. We don’t stay young forever. We eventually grow old and die. Life is constantly changing around us. People come into and out of our lives. We experience the good as well as the bad. We interact with Life and Life…interacts with us. We grow and we learn and…we adjust.

Each day should be a Thanksgiving for who we are and who we are… BECOMING.

Food for THOUGHT…

How to Fix Congress

2010-11-13T09:35:00.000-08:00

A friend forwarded this idea for a congressional reform package from the Internet. I’m sure it is making the rounds and many of these ideas have been out there for quite some time and are not new. Take a minute and look over this proposal:

Congressional Reform Act of 2010

1. Term Limits.12 years only, one of the possible options below:
A. Two Six-year Senate terms
B. Six Two-year House terms
C. One Six-year Senate term and three Two-Year House terms

2. No Tenure / No Pension.
A Congressman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when they are out of office.

3. Congress (past, present & future) participates in Social Security.
All funds in the Congressional retirement fund move to the Social Security system immediately. All future funds flow into the Social Security system, and Congress participates with the American people.

4. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan, just as all Americans do.

5. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise. Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%.

6. Congress loses their current health care system and participates in the same health care system as the American people.

7. Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the American people.

8. All contracts with past and present Congressmen are void effective 1/1/11.
The American people did not make this contract with Congressmen. Congressmen made all these contracts for themselves.

Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, serve your term(s), then go home and back to work.

I agree very much with the last statement. In our history, government has stopped being BY the people and FOR the people. It has become a government by the wealthy and powerful for the wealthy and powerful. Even if someone elected to congress does not go in wealthy, the majority seem to come out wealthy and set for life with government pensions, healthcare, perks and connections not available to the average citizen.

It takes a lot of money to be elected to national government and as we have just witnessed with the recent mid-term elections…MONEY talks. The recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling allowing corporations and unions to funnel unlimited funds into campaigns and not have to disclose donors have left the door wide open to special interests with hidden agendas. Our election process is for sale to the highest bidder. Those with the most wealth, power and connections get to stay in power and consolidate even more power as they make politics a career, an unholy, but lucrative profession. Their goal is to keep being elected and enjoying the perks and power of their office. Their masters are no longer the people of America, but those special interests who funded their campaigns.

So again, how do we fix congress? We stop making it a career. We limit the amount of money that can be spent and shine a light on who is contributing to the campaign. Finally, we shorten the time they can campaign and make public debates mandatory for all candidates at taxpayer’s expense.

Just one fly in the ointment… to pass this legislative reform act, the people who would have the most to lose by passing it… would be the ones voting on it.

Food for THOUGHT…

Life's Blessings

2010-11-09T09:20:00.000-08:00

I came across this picture of my granddaughter, Emma, giving me a big hug during our summer visit to Chicago. We flew there to attend our grandson, Nathan’s, baptism and see my family members. It made me think how blessed Lisa and I are. Can there be anything better than a hug from your grand kids?

I’ve been so wrapped up in politics, work and world affairs that sometimes life seems so full of frustrations and bad news…gloom and doom. But life is a mix. It is a big stew of good and bad, beautiful and ugly, sad and happy. Each day is an adventure.

It’s those hugs we get along the way that remind us of Life’s true blessings. Thanks Emma!

Food for THOUGHT…

I’ve Not Been a Good Buddhist

2010-10-20T08:37:00.000-07:00

One of the ideas of Buddhism is letting go of your attachments in life. Holding on to those “attachments” leads to suffering. Well, during this political campaign especially, I have become attached to the outcome of this mid-term election. Will the Democrats retain control of the House and Senate or will those Republican/Tea Party “boogie” men & women take control. Will this country stay on the path of progress and reform or fall back into business as usual and gridlock. My shorts have been in a knot.

On the internet, the radio and especially the TV, I am reminded every day of the dangers we are facing from this Democrat or that Republican candidate. This one was a witch when they were younger and that one tied up women and worshiped false idols! It can almost get comical. And perhaps that is what we should be doing is laughing…laughing at all this craziness and the millions of dollars being spent on both sides trying to influence our vote.

Think about it. All this money being spent on these crazy attack ads being spewed back on forth on both sides could be going to fixing this country and solving our problems. Instead, it is being wasted on the pursuit of power and buying influence. It is maddening. My biggest fear is that too many voters have lost the ability to think for themselves, to reason, to evaluate the messages that are bombarding us day and night. How many no longer look for the truth or verify what they are being SOLD? Voters are being swept away in a sea of negativity and fear. In their anger and frustration, they rush to judgment only to awaken the next morning and realize they’ve hung an innocent man, they’ve bought the Brooklyn Bridge. There will be regret and sorrow for what they have done, but too late… the deed is done.

If I were a better Buddhist, I’d go vote and then sit back and laugh and let go. What will be will be. I would deal with the outcome and move on. Life is short. But like I said, I’ve not been a good Buddhist.

Food for THOUGHT…

Vote!

2010-10-13T13:52:00.000-07:00

Are we to let the other side define this president and
all that he has accomplished? Vote!

With only a few weeks to go before the 2010 midterm elections, Americans have some important choices to make: The Tea Party, The Republicans, or The Democrats. Thanks to the recent Supreme Court ruling, corporations and unions can contribute unlimited funds under names like “Americans for Progress” to campaigns and they do NOT have to say where their money comes from. Karl Rove and Associates, the Koch brothers, Rupert Murdoch and others are busy raising money hand over fist for Republicans and Tea Party candidates and are targeting those races that will shift control of the U.S. Senate and possibly the House away from the reform minded Democrats that swept Barack Obama into office.

There is no denying the rage among voters in this country toward the negative, back-biting partisanship in our nation’s capitol. The economy’s slow recovery, continued high unemployment, rising national debt and foreclosures have fueled this anger. The Democratic Party’s message of reform pales against the onslaught of Right Wing and Tea Party rhetoric spewing forth from Fox News, Rush Limbaugh and others. The government is too big! Privatize or do away with Social Security and Medicare! Repeal the new healthcare legislation! Drill baby, drill! Don’t tie the hands of business with needless taxes and regulations and environmental rules! Keep the tax cuts, especially for the wealthy! Let trickledown economics work! Voters are being bombarded with negative, fear-filled messages and calls to throw the bums out!

After 8 years of Neocon Republican control of this nation, ending in the near financial collapse of this country and the world, two unending wars, being the target of worldwide terrorists and losing the respect of our friends and allies, voters have to make some very important decisions in just a few weeks. Do we return control of our government to the right wing Party of No and assorted Tea Party radicals OR do we stay the course and continue on this path of continued reform and hope that things will improve and get better for the average American?

No, I don’t believe that Democrats have all the answers, but what alternatives do moderate Democrats, Republicans, Independents and those of us calling ourselves Progressives have against this onslaught of negative, fear, smears and lies? Where do we go in just a few weeks, if we don’t want this country to step backward, be dismantled, undone and handed over to big business, banks and power brokers? Under Obama, we have made some progress, not as much as I would like, but progress none the less. It has been a hard won progress against a foe that would rather destroy this once great nation rather than compromise or come up with workable solutions rather than anti-everything Obama rhetoric.

With all the money being raised to defeat Democratic candidates in the mid-term elections, there is one thing to keep in mind. The corporations don’t get to vote. They have millions of dollars to influence voters, but WE the people…get to vote! I urge all American voters to consider all the rhetoric, all the messages and all the claims being bought and sold by those special interests groups. Decide if you want America to go forward or backwards and then go vote. Get your friends and family to vote. What we the people decide will determine what we ALL live with.

Food for THOUGHT…

On Being Adopted (Update)

2010-10-06T18:54:00.000-07:00

Spike had been my cat for 17 years and Sylvie was Lisa’s cat for 20 years. They made the trip down to Texas together. Once we were in our house, Spike and Sylvie were joined by our foundling kitten, Babs, named after Lisa’s Aunt Barbara. Babs was only 7 weeks old when we heard her cries for help and found her stuck in our fence by the side of the house. To this day, we can’t imagine where she came from or how she got there, but we came to her rescue. After a bath and some food she was exhausted. We left her in the guest bathroom over night and I had decided that a third cat was too many so I had planned to take her to an animal shelter the next day. Fortunately for us, Babs had other plans.

The next morning found us staring at this little, tiny, fluffy charcoal kitten with a loud purr. She leaped and gave us head butts and rubbed against us and she had me hook line and sinker. We had been adopted. Babs immediately took over the house and the two older cats. Babs was fearless in the face of growls and hisses, mostly from Sylvie, who wanted nothing to do with this tiny upstart. On the other hand, Spike found the little kitten more of a curiosity and eventually bonded with Babs. He would let her curl up with him in a chair during cold winter months and the two would have a good snooze. I was astonished one time to see Spike, the old male cat, licking Babs like a mother cat during one of their get-togethers. Sylvie eventually came to tolerate Babs and they became the three cats I vowed we’d never have.

Lisa and I had decided to take our time selecting another cat or cats after the passing of our beloved Sylvie and Spike recently. We considered leaving Babs as our only cat, but we are both gone for long periods of time during the week. So the plan was to check out some of the animal shelters to find a companion for Babs. We thought we should get a kitten since they seem to adapt better than an older cat. But once again fate had other plans.

Calli started coming across the street in the evenings and into our back patio. She was a beautiful, little calico kitten about 5 months old. She had a fluffy tail and a black “mask around her eyes. From the very start she was a lover! She jumped into our laps and nuzzled us with loud purrs and head butts. She could not get enough attention. We suspected that she might belong to the old couple from across the street near the ally. She seemed healthy and well groomed, even though we knew the older couple had health problems. We figured that the nurse or caregiver might be taking care of her. We reluctantly left her outside at night, even though on one of Calli’s visits she went charging for the back door and would have run into our house before we caught her. She was trying folks! There are a lot of cats out at night in our neighborhood and that’s the problem. They get pregnant or worse.

On one of Calli’s visits, she brought a littermate, we named him Sammy. He was also in need of attention, but he turned out to be a bitter and a scratcher. The two of them curled up on our back steps that night much to the dismay of Babs who was looking out the back door window. Calli disappeared for a while after that, but one day while I was home, she came over in the middle of the day. She rubbed against my legs and began purring. We had only seen her at night. When she showed up again that night we suspected she had no home and had to make a decision. Soon, she would go into heat and wind up like so many of the cats in our neighborhood. We took her in.

Calli did not like being closed up in the kitchen at night. She wanted attention! The next morning we took her to our vet and had her tested to make sure she could be around Babs. We would get her shots and spayed at the Animal Defense League later. She checked out so we began what we thought would be a long, gradual process of introduction to Babs. Babs was curious, but she would hiss if Calli got too close. Babs’ whole personality began to change. She would not let either of us pet her and she was skittish. We were being snubbed! Babs resented the new cat big time.

We decided to keep Calli in the kitchen at night so that Babs would have some respite and come back and sleep with us again like the old days. By the second or third night in the kitchen, Calli was having none of it. Just as I was about to drift off to sleep, “little miss Houdini” came trotting down the hall and into our bedroom and jumped up on the bed. Calli nuzzled into Lisa’s arm pit and wrapped her little paw around her arm and set to purring. (I wish I had had a camera.) We knew she was not going back to the kitchen.

It has been a week now and Babs is finally coming around. She is acting more like herself and even tried to play with Calli a few times. They both sleep with us at night without any growling or hissing. Calli loves to curl up with us and spread out. She is completely at home. I’ve never seen such an affectionate cat! She was one determined feline. She knew she was our new cat…well before we did.

Welcome to the family, Calli!

Food for THOUGHT…

Ten Years and More!

2010-09-20T22:21:00.000-07:00

Lisa and I thought about going to New Orleans for our 10th wedding anniversary. Then we thought we might drive to Santa Fe, New Mexico or the Gulf Coast. Nothing seemed quite right. The more we talked about long drives or expensive air fares and hotels and eating out, the more our anniversary was becoming a big production when all we really wanted was to get away and have some peace and quiet. Lisa and I had rented a cabin last year and really enjoyed the solitude of the Texas Hill Country. She began a search of cabins within a reasonable drive from San Antonio. That’s how we found our “Tree House Cabin” near the tiny Texas town of Smithville along the Colorado River.

Picture a spacious one bedroom house with a full kitchen and bar-style counter top, stone fireplace, living room, dining room and wooden deck overlooking a wooded ravine all up on cement columns (hence the name). Below the house is a large open area with an outdoor grill, picnic tables and all kinds of seating. There is also an outdoor shower with hot and cold water. Off to the side, below the wooden deck is a fire pit stocked with plenty of firewood. We had a wonderful four days of hiking at Bastrop State Park, camp fires, wine, longhorn cattle, horses, historic sites and just plain peace and quiet to sit and read and talk. It was hard to come back to our busy world, but we vowed to do this cabin get-away thing more often.

I still can’t believe how quickly the years have gone by. Lisa and I met when she had moved to Chicago to take a corporate training job. I was working as a senior buyer for Motorola. I was also a long time volunteer at the Spring Valley Nature Sanctuary in Schaumburg, a suburb of Chicago, when Lisa began volunteering there. We occasionally ran into each other, but one of us was either coming or going. It wasn’t until a hurricane cancelled Lisa’s travel plans and I showed up late for something at Spring Valley that fate finally threw us together. I caught up with her group of volunteers on their way back to the office. As things wrapped up, Lisa asked me if I “had a minute” and we sat down to talk. Bingo!

Before we met, I had vowed never to remarry. After two failed marriages, it was just going to be me and my cat, Spike, against the world. Lisa had never been married and had no thoughts of marriage. She was content to be on her own with her cat, Sylvie. Her life was just fine the way it was. But both of us were growing weary of the corporate world and there were holes in our plans to be single. There were forces at work. Forces that were about to change everything. Lisa talks about something telling her to take that job in Chicago. Her intuition is strong and has served her well over the years. I’ve come to trust it more than she does at times.

We began dating and talking about life and what we would like to do if we ever got the courage to leave the corporate world. Finally, we moved in together and merged our cats. Lisa finally quit her corporate job and pursued her creative muse in art which led her to design silk scarves and other items for shops. Then, I made the leap and left Motorola and tried my hand at freelance writing. We both had to get “real” jobs to pay the bills, but the die had been cast. I worked for a temp agency which led to a job writing a technical manual for an engineering firm. Finally, at Lisa’s urging, I began working as a tour guide at a historic mansion. Lisa began working at a scrapbooking store, a quilt shop and later for a home appraiser. Somehow, we managed to survive those early years.

Lisa and I finally “tied the knot” on September 12, 2000, just as the housing market began to go crazy. Things in Chicago were getting expensive so we tightened our belts and learned that we could live on a lot less than we were used to. We also learned that we could live in a way that was more environmentally friendly. Rising rents forced us into a small 600 sq.ft. one-bedroom apartment and our dream of owning a house was getting away from us. Owning and maintain two cars with long commutes was also getting expensive with gas prices rising.

The day before our first anniversary, 9/11/2001 happened. Suddenly the world had changed. It had become even more uncertain. Lisa and I had been married the year before in an outdoor ceremony in one of the county forest preserves. That evening of our first anniversary, we drove out to the spot and marveled at the night sky overlooking Chicago to our east. There were no planes in the sky. O’Hare International Airport was shut down as were all the airports across the nation. In 2003, we were visiting my brother and his family and my ailing mother who lived with them. While there, we watched in awe the invasion of Iraq on TV. My mother died that same year just before Christmas. My oldest daughter was out of college and getting married and my other daughter was getting ready to graduate. Things that had been holding me to Chicago were slowly letting go.

By 2004, we could barely afford to rent in the Chicago area. Even though Lisa was growing as a fiber artist, Chicago was a big, diverse market for struggling artists. Lisa had taken a class in San Antonio, a few years earlier. I flew down to meet her during the class and got a chance to see the historic city for myself. San Antonio has a thriving art community and it was also her old hometown. She had grown up there. The opportunities to take classes and grow as an artist were hard to pass up. My intuition began to tell me it was time to make a move and San Antonio was the place. Perhaps I could write and work at one of the museums or historical sites there. We took the leap. A big leap of faith so far from friends and family! We made inquiries, rented an apartment, packed up the cats and headed to Texas.

Today, Lisa is a well known fiber artist in San Antonio. She teaches and has exhibited her work as far away as London. She belongs to several professional artist organizations and has curated several local fiber art exhibitions. Lisa also has instructional DVD’s, magazine articles and possibly a book or two in the works. We found the perfect house and discovered that with the bus, we can get by with just one car. I have now worked at the Alamo for six years as a docent, historical interpreter and now supervisor for the education department. In 2007, I was given the opportunity to write a book about the Alamo. As if life couldn’t get any better for us, my daughters, Heather and Erin, have given us three wonderful grandchildren that we plan to visit as often as we can. All I can say is that Lisa and I are blessed.

We look forward to our NEXT ten years together …with more cats. (R.I.P. Spike and Sylvie. Perhaps you were the forces that brought us together?) Happy Anniversary Lisa!

Food for THOUGHT…

Saying Good-bye to the Princess

2010-09-07T16:10:00.000-07:00

Sylvie was Lisa’s cat. She was called “The Princess” for good reason. She had a regal bearing and a big fluffy tail that she allowed her subjects to pet when she so deigned. She was demanding and smart. She usually got what she wanted one way or another. She was Lisa’s companion and friend for over 20 years. She allowed me into her circle of subjects more than 10 years ago, even though I brought that “heathen cat” Spike with me. I was privileged to know and love her as a treasured member of our family.

I first met Sylvie when I was entrusted with her care while Lisa attended her niece’s wedding in Australia. Lisa and I had been dating for a while and I had instructions to go to her apartment after work each day to feed Sylvie, but I was also to sit in the green chair and pet Sylvie until she jumped down. Then I could go home. It was a ritual Sylvie carried over even during our last cold Texas winter. She would demand my lap each morning as I sat down in the green chair to watch the morning news on TV. I had to learn how to eat with a cat nestled in my lap. Did I mention that Sylvie gets what she wants?

Where Spike was a fraidy cat around strangers, Sylvie was a social butterfly. She loved attention. She would waft around the chairs at dinner parties inviting people to pet her luxuriously fluffy tail. If no one was paying her proper attention she had ways to…get attention. Sylvie was happiest when she was laying on top of Lisa or by her side while she would read in bed at night. Despite her regalness, Sylvie would be the first to come and lay with us when we were sick. After all, as Princess it was her job to look after her family.

Both Spike and Sylvie made the trip with us almost 6 years ago when we moved to San Antonio, Texas. Sylvie was the real traveler though, following Lisa from Florida to Chicago to Texas. She was a trooper. Both cats took to their new home here in Texas, but time was taking its toll on both cats over the last few years. We noticed they were not as spry and spent a lot of time sleeping. Babs, our foundling kitten, came into their lives about 3 years ago and shook things up for awhile. Was there to be a challenge to the throne? No chance! Sylvie was still the Princess. Babs had to settle for snuggling with Spike on cold winter days. Sylvie would have none of it unless she was too snoozy to notice.

With Spike’s passing a little over a month ago, Sylvie grew more frail and had trouble walking. She was not eating as much and her fur was becoming matted since it had become hard for her to groom herself. Lisa would spend a lot of time cutting out her fur knots and brushing her. Sylvie loved this time and would purr softly in her lap. We knew her time was coming. But it was hard to think about saying good-bye to our dear old friend.

Today, with much sadness Lisa and I took the Princess for her last trip to the vet. Lisa and I both wept over Sylvie’s passing and after a little ceremony, we laid her to rest in our new flower bed in the backyard not far from Spike’s grave under the Loquat tree. In the spring, her grave will be covered with Texas wildfowers. We like that and she would too. The Princess will be missed.

Food for THOUGHT…

Meeting the Grand kids

2010-09-07T14:11:00.000-07:00

Lisa and I made our long awaited trip to Chicago for our grandson’s baptism. We had yet to meet 2 of our three grandchildren and it had been a while since I talked to my brother and sister so the baptism was turning into a mini family reunion. We could not wait.
My daughter, Erin, picked us up at the airport and I got a chance meet our grandson, Nathan, from the back seat. What a baby! All the pictures we had received confirmed the image of a happy, smiling, baby boy. I think he hit it off with his grandpa…beard and all and he certainly hit off with his Gram. Lisa thoroughly enjoyed little Nathan and his winning smile. Once back at Erin’s house, Nathan took great delight in showing us his cache of toys and books.

While we were getting to know Nathan, my oldest daughter, Heather, and her family arrived. We last saw her oldest daughter, Emma, when Heather and family came down to San Antonio for a visit several years ago when Emma was almost 3. Now Emma was 5 years old and so tall. We had never met Emma’s younger sister, Ashlyn. Ashlyn with the curly hair, was more quiet, more intense. It took a little while to figure out just who Grandpa and Gram were, but she eventually allowed us to play with some of her toys. She wanted Gram to sit next to her at the table when we brought in lunch. She carried on quite the conversation with gram and Lisa was in. Ashlyn seemed to have a lot to say.

Sunday was the day for Nathan’s baptism, and I looked forward to seeing my brother, Jon, and my sister, Dawn, and their families at the church and the party after the ceremony. It’s funny how just a few years made all of us seem to look a little older, but it was so good see my family again. It was so funny that the deacon who married Nathan’s parents was the same man who performed Nathan’s baptism. The poor man for the life of me could not remember Nathan’s name to save his soul and he had trouble reading from his ceremonial book. Nathan was alternately known as “Andrew,” his middle name, and several other “designations” as the deacon struggled his way through the program.

Finally, it was time for family photos and a party back at Erin’s house. My sister-in-law, Donna, brought tons of wonderful food and took charge of the kitchen as children raced in and out of the house and the backyard. The adults gathered in clusters to get caught up on family news. The day was wonderful but exhausting. I wish I had even half the energy level of my grandchildren!

Our next day after the baptism was a little less hectic. Lisa and I decided to ship our presents for the grand kids by FedEx so they had a special box from Gramps and Gram to open. When it was opened there were puppets, modeling clay, stuffed animals, paints and a few other surprises. Right away newspaper was spread on the kitchen table and an art project was under way. The paints were for them to color their hand puppets. They could paint them any color they wanted… and did. There is nothing better than to see kids being creative. Even Nathan got into the act with strained…prunes. I think he had the best time of all.

Later in the day, Grandpa helped Ashlyn and Emma construct a tower of blocks…taller than Grandpa! Emma sat and read a book to Grandpa. She’s 5 years old and reading at at least a second grade level. I also helped my son-in-law, Dakota with a list of projects around the house that Erin had put together. I was glad to help. Nathan let Grandma feed him and he did real well. We ended the evening reading books with Nathan after his bath and before bedtime. Nathan gets to turn the pages and of course…he’s a speed reader, so we went through a lot of books…many times.

Like so many visits, time went by way too fast and it was time for us to fly back to San Antonio, Texas before we knew it. Saying good-bye to your adult children is never easy, but saying good-bye to grandchildren that you just got to meet for the first time was near impossible. There were hugs and kisses all around and promises to get together sooner…next time. After the good-byes, Lisa and I had enough time to visit Spring Valley Nature Center, where we first met as volunteers over 10 years ago. It was a hot day, but we made our way around trails that we had walked many times. It was a wonderful way to wind up our trip. I spent 15 years of my life volunteering at Spring Valley. It felt good to be back.

God Bless our families and keep them safe…until we meet again.

Food for THOUGHT…

Looking in the Mirror

2010-08-22T20:30:00.000-07:00

I’m sitting here listening to some oldies but goodies from my high school and college days and memories come flooding back. I shake my head and wonder if I was ever that young and carefree. Old friends and carefree summer trips to Warren Dunes in Michigan float into my head. Isn’t it amazing what songs can trigger? When we are young we think we will go on forever. We think we are immortal!

I’ve had an interesting life after all is said and done. There have been good times and bad times so far, but life is always interesting. I grew up on a small chicken farm in Central Illinois and found my way to San Antonio, Texas. I’ve been married three times. I have two daughters and three grandchildren. I’ve travelled to Paris, Athens and Rome. I’ve flown over Pikes Peak, travelled cross country by train on the California Zephyr and watched the sun rise over the Atlantic Ocean in Cancun, Mexico. I’ve canoed across Canadian lakes with four best friends while watching eagles soar overhead. I’ve gathered eggs, pumped gas, worked for a newspaper, been an inside salesman for a scientific company, worked as a senior buyer for a telecommunication company, given tours in a historic mansion and worked as a historical interpreter for an internationally known historic sight. I’ve freelanced several magazine articles and written a book.

People and animals have come into and out of my life. Some have captured my heart while others have broken it to pieces. Some have inspired me and given me hope. Others have taught me lessons in love, patience and peace. But I’ve also had lessons on hatred, greed and fear. I have learned that I am a creative being and receive great energy from art. I have hurt on purpose and been hurt. I have been loved unconditionally. I have been loved in spite of…many things. I have laughed with friends and cried alone. I have watched people grow old and some have pass on. I have remembered the kitten while I stroked the head of an old friend as our vet ended his life before my eyes. I have missed and… been missed.

I was raised as a Presbyterian, was confirmed in the United Church of Christ, had my daughters baptized and confirmed as Catholics and served as an elder the Missouri Synod Lutheran Church. I have been married in the Catholic Church, the Lutheran Church and the Unitarian Universalist Church. I have attended Quaker, B’hia, Baptist, Jewish and Unity Church services. I have studied and embraced much from the Buddhist faith and New Age thought. I have learned that the more I think I know, how little I really know. I have learned that we are one and that what we do to others…we do to ourselves. We sow what we reap. I have learned that Love can overcome Fear, but that Fear too often gets the best of us because we are human on a never ending path. I’ve learned that we create our own reality…good and bad. I’ve learned that we get chances…lot of chances…until we get it right. Learning is remembering what we already know…and have always known.

I looked into the mirror today and saw a 58 year old man staring back at me and realized that life goes on. Where we are… is where we are at.

Food for THOUGHT…

Confronting the Public

2010-08-14T22:25:00.000-07:00

Dealing with the public is a double edged sword. At times, it can be very rewarding and other times it can be very frustrating and draining. At the Alamo, there is a long standing tradition that requires gentlemen to remove their hats upon entering the old Alamo Church, now called the Shrine. The Shrine is a place to honor the Alamo defenders who fought and died there on March 6, 1836, in the Battle of the Alamo. Over 200 defenders met their fate at the hands of Santa Anna’s overwhelming Mexican Army. But now this time honored tradition of men removing hats as a sign of respect is being questioned.

It is never fun confronting Alamo visitors about the rules on food, drink and photography, but it can get even more contentious when some men feel just as strongly about keeping their hats on. I’ve had men turn around and leave rather than remove their hats. Some men become irate and ask us why women are not required to remove their hats as well. Still others refuse outright or say nothing until we force the issue, often ending in bad feelings, vocal confrontations and sometimes expulsion.

To avoid a bad experience for our visitors, there is a growing feeling that we should ask once and then refrain from enforcing this time honored rule in the Shrine. While it seems like a solution to this occasional problem, it puts Alamo guides in an awkward position at the door. Under this non-enforcement idea, male visitors who are asked to remove their hats at the door will see those men who choose not to remove their hats walking around inside and they will question why THEY are being asked to remove their hats. Again, potential for more bad feelings?

So what should be done? Should we enforce the rule and risk an occasional confrontation or let the rule slide? Over 90% of the men asked to remove their hats do so with a quick apology and a hint of embarrassment. Many men just fail to see the large brass sign with the rules posted outside the front door of the Shrine. This one rule on hats, however, deals with forcing a sign of respect as opposed to other rules that deal with protecting the physical building and artifacts. We have always made allowances for wearing hats in the Shrine on religious grounds or medical reasons, but outright defiance becomes another issue.

Alamo guides have been witnessing less respect for the rules and poor behavior and attitudes on the part of visitors today. There is a growing sense of entitlement to be able to do whatever they want, regardless of posted rules. We see it not just in young adults, but in interactions between parents, their children and even teachers and school chaperones. So is this lack of respect and poor behavior just a sign of the times? Should we just go with the flow and let it slide? Or do we stick to the rules? Do we risk confronting the public?

Food for THOUGHT…

Farewell to Spike

2010-08-04T18:43:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday, Lisa and I took our beloved cat, Spike, for his last trip to the vet. It was one of the hardest things that I’ve ever had to do. For more than a year, we have watched Spike on a slow decline, but we felt that as long as his appetite was good, we would put up with his frequent messes outside of the litter box. Spike stopped grooming himself and his fur had become matted and his paws were always dirty. We tried to brush him and began giving him baths, but he still looked like hell. He was walking stiffly and spent most of the day sleeping under the dining room table, coming to life only when it was feeding time. When I came home from work Friday night, Spike could no longer stand and we knew his time had finally come.

Spike had never really recovered from our visit to see Lisa’s mother two Christmases ago. Our three cats were left for several days with plenty of food and water. Spike was confined to the kitchen and the other two cats were confined to the sun room. Upon our return, we found Sylvie and Babs were just fine, but Spike had gorged on all of his food and finished all of his water and was in bad shape, barely able to meow and unable to stand. We took him to the vet and his tests indicated that he had a number of health problems and probably would not make it through the night. Our vet offered to put Spike down, but I could not bring myself to do it. We took him home to die. That night, Lisa and I took turns holding him in an easy chair wrapped in towels and expecting the worst. He would not eat but would struggle to the floor and wobble to his water bowl for a drink and then fall over. We would pick him up and go back to the chair. This continued through the night and into the next morning and finally I had to leave for work. Miraculously, the next day Spike began to eat a little and slowly he rallied, but he was never the same. We knew from that point on that he was borrowing more than his 9 lives.

I began my 17 year relationship with Spikeminster T. Cat when my daughter, Erin, insisted that I needed a cat. I was divorced and living alone in a small one bedroom apartment, but I never thought of having a pet. Despite my protestations, my daughter prevailed and at the last animal shelter we visited, we found…Spike. He was about 6 months old with big paws and one pink ear. He had ear mites and right away I had to give this kitten medicine that he did not care to have. Eventually we made peace, and Spike made himself at home in my apartment.

One night, after I brought Spike home, I was awakened in the middle of the night. It was dark, perhaps about 3 am, and Spike was on my stomach. He dropped a wet ball of foil on my chest and meowed. It was time to play! It seems that my new kitty had a foil fetish. Spike had climbed into the recycle container and found just the right size ball of foil. Then he proceeded to dunk said foil in his water bowl. (Everything went into the water for a good float, you see.) So Spike and I bonded that night. Many mornings he would sleep with his head on the pillow next to mine and I would awake to his snoring.

This one on one bonding left Spike with very little tolerance for strangers. One night my friend, Bill, stopped by the apartment and for the first time Spike showed his now infamous “growl” so fierce that Bill thought his life was about to end. I could not calm Spike down so we had to leave. Spike continued to voice his hatred for Bill and displeasure for any stranger who happened into our territory. He sometimes tolerated women, but hated men with a passion. When Lisa and I started dating Spike would go into the kitchen, jump up on top of the cabinets and growl at her from above. Eventually, he would stay in the room but kept his distance in an uneasy truce. One night we were having ice cream on the couch and he climbed into her lap, trying to check out her bowl. From that point on, he allowed her to pet him in her lap and she was in. Spike had let another human into his family circle.

Lisa had her own cat, Sylvie, and when we decided to move in together, we had to figure out a way to integrate our two cats. Sylvie was very outgoing but demanding. She was the “Princess” and never let you forget it. I stopped by Lisa’s apartment, when we were dating, to care for Sylvie when Lisa went to Australia. After feeding her royal highness, I had to sit in a chair and pet Sylvie until she had had enough and jumped down. Then I could go home. So we decided to keep our cats separated for awhile and let them sniff each other through the bedroom door. Finally, the day came to introduce our cats to each other. Spike was sitting in my office. Sylvie came in the room, went right up to Spike and whopped him several times in the face and ran out of the room thereby establishing who was in charge. Poor Spike looked up at me as if to say…”WHAT was that!” What was that indeed. Spike had allowed another human into his life, but another creature? Over the years, Spike and Sylvie established an uneasy truce, but never were the best of friends. Sylvie always had a way to outsmart the unsuspecting Spike when she wanted something, like a nice spot in the sun.

Our cats had very different feeding habits. When we moved to Texas, over five years ago, we had to drug our two cats for the drive. That was a trip! We could crush the pill and mix it in Spike’s food bowl with no problem. He LOVED food. He packed on the pounds while we were living in Chicago and we had to put him on a diet. Sylvie, on the other hand, was more discriminating and stayed wafer thin with her big, wispy tail. She would eat around the pill fragments, no matter how small, and leave them in the bottom of her bowl or walk away from the food, pill and all. Sylvie liked to eat a little and come back later for more. Spike would often finish her food between tastings so this became a problem at feedings. In later years, Spike would have to be kept in the kitchen or another room so that Sylvie would not starve. Spike had a long love affair with his food.

After our move to Texas, we bought our house and Spike began licking his belly. Eventually, he licked the fur off and had open soars on his belly. We decided to find a vet to see what was going on. We suspected allergies, but we had no idea how to treat them. Given Spike’s dislike of strangers and men in particular…you can imagine how our quest went. One vet hid behind the door with his assistant and said, “That’s okay, you don’t have to bring him back!” because Spike was growling so ferociously. We went through several vets until we found The Alamo Dog and Cat Hospital on the south side. Spike was wearing his inflated blue collar to prevent his licking. The vet said, “Oh, he’s not so bad!” as Spike did his best to growl. The vet was unfazed and we knew we had found Spike’s vet at last. He prescribed more fish and fish oil in Spike’s diet and his licking eventually stopped.

The last member to join Spike’s family circle was Babs, our little, foundling cat. Babs was just 7 weeks old and caught in our fence by the AC unit at the side of our house. We were dealing with the death of Lisa’s Aunt Barbara and our upcoming trip to Chicago for a family reunion. Now, in the midst of all our chaos came this loud compelling meow. I decided to give up on our “only two cats” rule and we kept the little kitten that captured our hearts with her loud purring and tiny meow. We named her Babs after Lisa’s aunt. Babs took over our house immediately. She insisted on being wherever the other two cats were, but Sylvie wanted nothing to do with the newest member of our family. She would hiss and run out of the room. It was Spike, our long suffering male cat, that finally bonded with Babs. One day I looked over and found the two of them curled up together, sound asleep in a chair. Spike would sometimes lick Babs’ head like a mother cat. Only once did I see Babs curled up next to Sylvie and that was after she was already asleep.

The morning we took Spike in for his last visit to the vet was emotional. Spike was hobbling around the kitchen and I knelt down to pet him. He really enjoyed the attention. He had become so scruffy looking and frail that we often left him alone. I started crying uncontrollably knowing what was waiting for him at the vet’s office. At that moment, it was like Spike knew, too. He gave me head butts as if to let me know it was okay. At the vet’s office we took Spike out of the carrier and I held him for a while trying to remember all that we had been through in our 17 years together. I stoked his face as he was given the shot that would stop his heart. In just a minute, the vet said that he was gone.

Spike’s body was placed in a cardboard casket and we brought him home. I left the casket in the sun room until I could dig his grave in the backyard under a tree. Lisa had to go to work and we planned to do a little ceremony and burial that evening when she returned. Babs came into the room, walked all around sniffing the casket and then jumped down. Babs and Sylvie seemed restless all day. I was working on the computer when all of a sudden I had a wonderful vision of my late mother holding Spike. They were both young and healthy and she was laughing about Spike’s one pink ear. She was nuzzling and petting him and in that moment I knew Spike had crossed over and he was okay.

That evening, we opened the casket and placed…a foil ball next to him. Lisa placed the African Adinkra burial cloth she created for him on top of his body (see photos below). The fabric came from the “I Am Spirit“ cloth displayed in her England Exhibition and the symbols represented:

1) Moving from physical to Spirit
2) Perseverance
3) Harmony

We toasted Spike and we laid him to rest under the tree. It was hard to say good-bye to our dear friend and not know when or if we would meet again. It is a shame that only a few people ever got to see the real Spike for the sweet and gentle creature he was. He will be missed.

Food for THOUGHT.

Points of View

2010-07-27T22:09:00.000-07:00

In the years that I have had the privilege to vote in our country I have voted as both a Republican and a Democrat by virtue of our two-party system. In my youth, I was certainly more of a conservative, voting for Ronald Reagan in the 1980’s. But as I grew older I began to lean more and more to the liberal side of things. In my time, I have watched the pendulum swing from big unions to big business. I have seen prosperity and financial decline. I have seen wars and short periods of peacetime. I have watched this battle of ideologies waged back and forth in this country and carried to extremes.

Given my current liberal/progressive biases, if I may, I’d like to outline the two points of view (as impartially as possible) that have driven this country to the brink:

Conservative Views

1) A belief in tickle-down economics where business is allowed to grow with minimal regulation by government and the benefits will eventually trickle-down to the society.

2) A belief that government (especially the federal government) is too big and too powerful, that state’s rights need to be protected.

3) A belief that higher taxes to pay for ever expanding social programs are wrong and needs to be reversed. Federal spending needs to be cut and controlled.

4) The family and family values are all important. Issues such as gay marriage are just wrong.

5) A belief that a Christian God guides this nation and any attempt to remove or separate that faith in God from our government is also wrong.

6) A belief that a strong U.S. military presence is needed to defeat the forces of evil in this world, that might makes right and protects us all.

7) U.S. borders should be protected from illegal aliens. The U.S. should deport all who live in this country without proper documentation to preserve our jobs, keep from bankrupting our social services and fight the drug traffickers not to mention terrorists after 9/11.

8) The environment is important, but it should never get in the way of what our nation needs. Compromises have to be made from time to time.

9) A good education and hard work are the keys to success.

10) The American flag and our patriotism are what bind this nation. There should be no room for disrespect.

I probably missed some other points, but I hope I fairly captured the essence of conservative American views, thoughts and beliefs.

Liberal Views

1) A belief that the economy does not trickle-down, but comes from a solid middle class with decent jobs, affordable housing, and innovation to create more jobs that fuel and stimulate the economy, more of a trickle-up or a trickle-out theory.

2) A belief that American society is made up of many people of different races, religion and beliefs as well as many social and economic classes. It has always been a melting pot, open to those seeking hope, prosperity and the pursuit of happiness.

3) The government’s job is to help and protect the least advantaged of our society by raising taxes for programs that achieve the growth, protection and health of our society.

4) States rights must be superseded by federal rights under the Constitution of the United States of America. If each state is allowed to contradict the Constitution then the union it protects would be null and void.

5) U.S. military force should be used along with diplomacy and in conjunction with our allies to promote peace and understanding (not necessarily our style of democracy). Yes, it should be there to protect this nation’s interests around the world, but we should be more the example and less the policemen of the world.

6) The environment is important and should never be compromised by business or political interests. The environment sustains us and should be protected and improved at all costs.

7) There should be a separation of church and state, realizing that America is a nation of many religions. Persons of different faiths should have equal protection under the law by a secular government.

8) U.S. borders should be protected from illegal aliens no matter where they come from, but there must also be a corresponding plan to provide a pathway to citizenship for the 12 million illegal aliens already here, many living as good productive citizens and paying taxes.

9) A good education and hard work are the keys to success, but the government has the responsibility to insure the quality, continuity and accessibility of that education to all citizens.

10) The government needs to regulate big business and the banking industry to prevent abuse and excess that could bring our economy to its knees.

11) Not just family rights and values, but human rights must also be respected. As definitions of family and human relationships change (i.e. gay marriage), rights and protections under the law also need to expand to meet these changes just as it did to protect interracial marriage.

12) The American flag and patriotism are very real and very precious, but should never be used to disenfranchise Americans with dissenting voices on current government policy created by one political party or the other.

Again, I am sure I missed some liberal points of view or injected my own personal biases, but I hope I gave some measure of liberal thinking and belief.

So now, which view is correct? There seem to be such large gaps between these ideologies. They are causing a growing political divide in this country. They have caused our nation’s government to gridlock and voices of dissent to grow ever more vitriolic. Politicians are digging in their heels and voting in lock-step along party lines. Civil discourse and debate have been lost in favor of party loyalty on both sides.

I can understand the fear and concerns of conservatives. They don’t want big government. They don’t want more taxes, higher taxes. Who does? Not me. They do not want massive debt and unfunded mandates. They don’t want to see “In God We Trust” removed from our currency, our courts and our government. They abhor the idea of gay marriage and abortion and any thought of family values crumbling around them. They can’t abide a federal government that seems unable to stop the flow of illegal aliens and drug runners across our borders and yet wants to place new restrictions on big business and our nation’s banks. They don’t want national healthcare forced down their throats. I understand them wanting less government and more freedom. People should work hard for what they get. That’s what our nation was founded on, right? Things are changing in this country and it’s scary. We are no longer that peaceful, quaint Norman Rockwell painting of America. There are brown faces, black faces and oriental faces. There are Muslims, Jews and Buddhists all calling themselves Americans. There are men marrying men and women marrying women and they, too, are calling themselves Americans. I get it, but we can’t go back to the time when white, Christian men defined the face of America. We can’t go back to the time when blacks are turned away from lunch counters. At the same time, we must meet our country’s growing social needs, but we must also find a way to pay for programs and a massive debt…and yes, cut Federal spending in the process.

I can understand the fears and concerns of the liberals. Who wants our government and our elections influenced and run by oligarchs, corporations and banks? With the BP oil spill and the near collapse of our financial system, more government regulation must be on the table. Liberals cannot trust in trickle-down and self regulation. It does not work! People cannot afford the rising cost of healthcare and medicine. Leaving it to private medical insurers is not working. They see jobs going overseas as American factories close. With their jobs, so go their homes as mortgage foreclosures continue to climb and more houses go “under water”. Liberals see the need to do something more than “drill, baby drill” to meet the nation’s energy needs. They see the need for new industry and new technology here at home to create those jobs, to replace our nation’s dependency on oil, but they grow frustrated by politics and business as usual. Liberals are tired of funding two wars and the loss of life that have gone on far too long. Liberals cry out for more funding and more government programs and healthcare to meet the needs of a growing and diverse society, but we can’t go back to the old tax and spend mentality that has generated an unbelievable amount of debt for our nation. We cannot keep borrowing from countries Like China. Liberals are finding it hard to see beyond their own wants and needs. They, too, dig in their heels and leadership and compromise seem in short supply.

So again, which view is right and which view is wrong? Should we continue to fear change and cling to the old ways of doing things? Perhaps both sides are right and both sides are wrong. Perhaps there is another way, a third way, a Progressive way. More on that later…

Food for THOUGHT.

Tea Party Denies Racism

2010-07-14T13:59:00.000-07:00

At their recent convention in Kansas City, the NAACP denounced the Tea Party leadership for not rejecting racial rhetoric, signs and actions at their rallies. Tea Party leaders were quick to attack the NAACP. Local Tea Party organizers rejected claims of racism and called on the NAACP to withdraw their resolution.

Just as this was hitting the press, organizers of the North Iowa Tea Party found themselves in hot water over a billboard they erected in Mason City Iowa comparing President Obama to Hitler and Lenin. They were requested to remove the billboard by other leaders of the Tea Party movement. John White, an Iowa coordinator for the Tea Party Patriots, said "I fear they may end up in some kind of trouble over it because it's basically slanderous. I don't know that it's the message we want to send. I'd much rather see billboards that say, 'Remember in November. Get Out and Vote.' At our last rally we saw some people with those kinds of signs and asked people to put them down, It's borderline hate crime" (source: www.politicsdaily.com)

Fear, anger and frustration at the path America seems to be taking is understandable. Our country is facing massive debt. Our economy is struggling back from the brink of collapse. The ecology and economy along the Gulf of Mexico may be damaged permanently because of unregulated corporate greed and a national addiction to oil. We need to fix healthcare, social security, education and the nation’s infrastructure. We are spending billions, trillions on two wars on the other side of the world. Things need to get done and partisanship has ultimately superseded problem solving. Scapegoating, name calling, political and racial slurs have become all too common on the American political scene. Politics has become a battle over ideologies, winners and losers and who has the power. What is getting lost is…us. America is becoming fragmented. Each group being more and more angry and suspicious of the other.

Still, I am at a loss to understand the level of absolute hate and disgust toward President Obama by the conservative right, especially by the Tea Party movement. We have the first black president in our nation’s history. He was elected on the platform of CHANGE and yet when he took on the challenges of those things that need changing (created over many decades by Republicans and Democrats alike)…he has been thwarted and vilified every step of the way. He is damned if he does and damned if he doesn’t. His birthplace, his religion and his race have been questioned by those who seek his downfall. Even those of us who still support his efforts to deal with our many problems have become disheartened by the tenor of the opposition. I have to fight the tendency to wonder if the same vitriolics would be directed toward a white man from a more privileged background. I wonder if there would be more respect for the office, more cooperation… or have we passed the point of no return?

Food for THOUGHT.

Arizona Immigration Law

2010-07-11T13:29:00.000-07:00

I live in Texas and, like Arizona, we also share a border with Mexico. There are strong issues in both states with illegal immigration and our government’s inability to stop it. Farmers and ranchers are suffering along our borders. Safety and damage to private property are their primary concerns as Mexican drug cartels and human traffickers called “coyotes” continue to cross into the United States. The issues of having so many undocumented aliens in this country and their affect on our nation’s economy and healthcare are well known. I don’t believe many would feel our current immigration policy is working nor would they feel our borders with Mexico are secure.

So what do we do about it? Some feel it makes sense to let each border state make up their own laws to deal with their particular problems like Arizona. But is that the best way to deal with a problem that affects not only Arizona but the Nation as a whole? In a sense, it would be like bringing back vigilante justice when a well trained and organized police force is called for. In the old days, citizen soldiers would organize and ride off to deal with frontier problems, then return to their farms and ranches. That frontier justice led to many abuses. Many innocent Indians and Mexicans were slaughtered because of disputes or simply because they were in the way.

I think we should support the existing federal laws yes, but clearly under our Constitution it is the Federal Government that must create and enforce those laws. Do we need an overhaul of Immigration Policy? Certainly, but again Congress is the body of our government charged with making those changes. However, given the partisanship in Washington these days (ON EVERYTHING!!!!!), I'm not holding my breath. So God help this nation, if we are EVER to get anything done! But as a nation we need to put our Washington politicians’ feet to the fire. We cannot let them keep sweeping this issue off to the side. Our nation’s security and its sovereignty are at stake.

Here are some thoughts to consider:

1) Enforce our laws and secure our borders. JOB ONE!!!

2) Then deal with the 12 million aliens already here. You can't deport them all so give them some sort of documentation so we know who they are and where they are.

3) Once they are OFFERED documentation (to determine their status...are they established and productive?) then send back the ones who refuse to be documented as they are caught.

4) It might take several years to document 12 million people, so turn our post offices into documentation centers. Post offices are becoming obsolete with the internet and they are hurting for money. Why not use them for this documentation process?

5) Those documented aliens can be offered a path to citizenship, if they can meet certain requirements such as having a job, learning English, have an establish home, business, and a family. They must be able to prove that they are productive members of society.

6) If they just want to work in this country, issue them a temporary work visa with a tamper proof photo ID with biometrics. Their status should be updated every year or 6 months. If not renewed…they go home.

7) No hospitalization (other than emergency treatment) unless they can pay. No documentation... no money…no work… they go back.

8) Businesses should be required to check against an official documented database before they can hire anyone. Businesses who can NOT verify that they checked their employee's documentation should be fined or sued by the Taxpayers.

9) Change the law that says the child of illegal parents born in this country is automatically a citizen.

We must start a national dialogue on immigration policy and force Washington to give it the attention it deserves.

Food for THOUGHT.

A Woman and a Cat on a Bus

2010-07-07T20:31:00.000-07:00

A few mornings ago, I took the bus into work. I settled into my seat and began to read my book. All of a sudden I heard a cat’s meow. Thinking I was hearing things, I looked up and around the bus to see where the meow was coming from. I’m not even sure pets are allowed, but there it was, a cat in a blue plastic carrier, very similar to the one Lisa and I have for our cats. Next to the cat in the carrier was a thin, poorly dressed woman. She had a large bandage on the opposite side of her face that partially covered her left eye. Her right hand was covering her face and she was looking down as if she might be feeling ill.

I thought it was strange that I had not noticed the woman with her cat when I boarded the bus and took my seat, but then I rarely look at my fellow passengers when I’m riding the bus. I normally just want to read or listen to my MP3 player for the 18 minutes it takes to get downtown, but the cat’s meowing got my attention. Now, I could not help focusing on the woman. Immediately, a scenario of pain, grief and sorrow came to me. Without knowing why, a story began playing out in my head. The woman never looked up, but I could FEEL it was her story.

The story went like this: She was alone, except for her cat. She had lost her job and then she was diagnosed with cancer. The prognosis was not good. Perhaps she had only a few weeks or months. She was about to lose her home. Her one last thing was to find a new home for her beloved cat. She was taking it to the City Shelter in hopes that someone would take her cat and care for it. Soon, she would no longer be able to provide for it. She had no one, no friend she could trust, so it had come to this. She was feeling tired and ill. Her head hurt and she could not bear to see the other passengers staring at her bandaged face and her meowing cat in the blue carrier.

I still don’t know why I was given that impression. Perhaps she wasn’t dying of cancer. Perhaps she just had a headache or she was in pain from the recent surgery. Perhaps she was just taking the cat to a vet for a checkup. I see women and small kids loaded with strollers and bags of groceries get on and off the bus all the time. I had to finally realize that not everyone has a car. So why was this woman and her cat so heavy on my mind? Why that particular scenario? Why so personal and why was it directed toward me?

As I sat there in my seat, I was flooded with images of my three cats, Spike, Sylvie and Babs. My heart ached at the thought of ever having to give them up because I was alone and dying. I have my wife, our house and a wonderful life. Life is good for us. I suddenly felt very thankful for my many blessings. I realized in that moment that the life we have is so fragile and our time on this earth is so short. One illness, the death of a spouse, the loss of a job and I could be that person sitting across from me.

My stop was next and as I got up to leave the bus, I looked back one last time. I’ll never know her story for sure, but it made me feel so grateful for all that I have and how insignificant my problems now seemed.

Perhaps that was the point. We only have the day…this moment…this NOW.

Food for THOUGHT…

To Readers of My THOUGHTS Blog:

2010-06-30T06:10:00.000-07:00

I started writing this column in 2002 and it became an online blog in 2008 (?), I guess. It is hard to believe that it has been almost 8 years. For many of those years, I wrote my column and emailed it out every Monday, but lately I have gotten lazy and I send it out whenever I have something to say. It has been a wonderful vehicle to express and share feelings, concerns and ideas...FOOD for THOUGHT, as my tag line states.

I have always welcomed your thoughtful comments and looked forward to your reaction to my blog, even when we did not always see eye to eye on things, especially then, because then I knew that you read it and it stirred something in you. It provided food for thought. But, I always learn something, too. I always get a different perspective, another view. By now, those of you who read my blog, know that I am certainly more left of center than many of my readers. I have been just as vitriolic and partisan as some of my more conservative friends on the right when it comes to politics. (I get that from my late mother, I suppose.) It has led to some interesting and at times...frustrating debates. But again, I always learn something from my readers. It has been most rewarding.

So after almost 8 years, I want to thank YOU, my readers. I want you to hang in there and please, please, please ...continue to COMMENT on my blog. You can either leave your comments on the blog or e-mail me at sortman808@aol.com. There is nothing worse for a writer than to receive no feedback from his readers. One of the nice things about Blogspot.com is that you can get reports on how many hits a column generates and from where. I am just amazed that my blog is read by people in Brazil, Russia, England, Australia, India and other places around the world. I also link my blog on my Facebook account for all my friends there as well. It's a big world out there. Let's hear from you!

Thank you, my friends! Keep reading and commenting!

Stephen Ortman
San Antonio, Texas

Help Me Understand This

2010-06-22T15:37:00.000-07:00

Okay, so here is the deal. BP and their cohorts are drilling a mile deep in the Gulf of Mexico. Things are taking too long and corners are cut. Safety procedures are compromised, thanks to the cozy relationship between the oil industry and the government agency meant to regulate it. There is a problem. The drill rig explodes and lives are lost. Oil begins pouring into the Gulf of Mexico. BP lies about how much oil is pouring out and their ability to stop the leak. Over many weeks and months they try one failed idea after another to stop the leak. They spew toxic dispersants into the water to break up the oil, but all it does is create large toxic oil plumes under the water, which PB at first denies. As things get worse they promise to find a way to stop the leak and reimburse all legitimate claims for damage.

President Obama orders the Coast Guard and Federal resources to assist BP in containing the oil and stop the leak. He imposes a 6 month moratorium on deep water drilling in the Gulf and appoints a commission to investigate the safety of the existing rigs and the cause and prevention of the current spill. He makes several visits to the Gulf Coast and talks to local officials, residents and fishermen about the pending disaster. The President has the Secretary of the Interior reorganize the regulatory agency overseeing the oil industry.

Things continue to get worse. Fragile wetlands and wildlife get coated with gooey oil and tar balls wash up on the beaches. We find out that BP is still lying about the amount of oil flowing into the Gulf. They are only partially successful in stopping the oil and in fact may have made it worse by some accounts. BP is slow to process claims for damages and lost wages. People are out of work, suffering and getting upset. BP stock drops and there are rumors that the giant corporation might actually go bankrupt.

President Obama continues to hold BP’s feet to the fire. He calls the top BP executives to the White House and gets them to agree to put $20 billion into a separate fund and appoints a respected, experienced person to efficiently pay out claims to the people suffering the most. This is money in the bank, even if BP goes belly up. A third party is now paying out claims and not some PB employee. He even gets them to agree to put another $200 million into a fund for out-of-work oil workers due to his moratorium on deep water drilling. Even with all of this money given up by BP, the President makes it clear that this was in no way a cap on what BP may ultimately owe people and businesses because of BP’s negligence.

Now here is what I need help with. This is what I don’t get. President Obama is getting blasted for not doing enough, fast enough. The same politicians that were shouting from the roof tops with warnings about “Big Government” needing to stay out of our lives and our business are now screaming that our government was not involved, was not regulating the oil industry…enough. Our “Big Government” is not reacting fast enough and big enough to stop the oil spill and clean up the mess. Where is the government they shout. These were the same people and the same cry when our financial system was collapsing recently. Gosh, how come the banks and the oil industry did not police themselves? For years conservative politicians would have us believe that regulation is bad and the government should just butt out. So what is it, too much government or not enough?

At a recent congressional hearing, BP company officers assembled for a session of “slice and dice” when Texas Republican congressman , Joe Barton, opened his statements with an apology to BP for President Obama’s “shakedown” of the $20 billion fund. Yes, he was pressured into rescinding his apology to BP later, but I suspect he was giving voice to many politicians who owe their campaign funds in part to BP and the rest of the oil industry. The fund was seen as Obama’s “shakedown” of BP rather than a plan to insure that victims are compensated. Why is that?

And the last thing I need help with is this anger at President Obama over the moratorium on deep water drilling. As oil is still gushing into the Gulf of Mexico, despite BP’s many “experiments” to stop it, politicians, fishermen and oil men are pushing to resume the drilling. With fear in their angry, warning voices, they make it Obama’s fault for men being out of work which will eventually cause the oil rigs to pack up and sail away to other oil fields thus causing even more damage to the already injured economy. But, wouldn’t these same voices be decrying President Obama if another deep water well began leaking because we never took the time to check the safety equipment and procedures, if we never completed the current investigation into WHY this disaster happened? Damned if he does and damned if he doesn’t. Why is that?

Are oil profits more sacred than people’s lives and the environment that sustains us?

Food for THOUGHT…

A Healing Prayer Request

2010-06-16T10:25:00.000-07:00

The first Spiritual Truth that that stuck with me, even before I realized I was on a Path of Enlightenment, was the idea that we create our own reality. It came from a book titled, Illusions, by Richard Bach, the author of Jonathan Livingston Seagull. The concept that we create our own reality by what we THINK was intriguing.

If we think negatively, by this concept, we tend to create a negative reality, a negative world. If we further accept that there is a collective reality being created by others who are also thinking negatively, then it would explain our current reality or what we perceive as REAL.

Every day I wake up to gloom and doom over this oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. This tragedy, unlike 9/11, has been tearing our country apart rather than uniting us. I listen to the latest updates on the oil spread, its damage and potential for damage. Then I listen to the endless debates on whose fault it is. I hear the interviews with fishermen and resort owners along the coast. You hear their fear and anger. I get caught up in all this fear and anger and become part of it. I help to keep it going and yet I feel so helpless to do anything about it.

Today, I received a prayer request from a friend. I was asked to put it out there. I’m not one to do that, especially from the internet, but the request was from Dr. Masaru Emoto, a Japanese scientist. Some may recognize him from research and publications he has done on the characteristics of water. His research reveals that water physically responds to emotions. Our THOUGHTS can actually change the structure of water molecules. When anger and fear are directed at water samples they appear significantly different from samples subjected to prayer and loving thoughts.

Dr. Emoto is asking the following prayer be copied down and repeated by as many people as possible to create a healing in the Gulf of Mexico and our nation as a whole. This makes sense to me. THIS is something I can do help our healing of what we have all done collectively to this Earth. Please consider this request:

Dr. Masaru Emoto's Healing Prayer for the Gulf

"I send the energy of love and gratitude

to the water and all the living creatures in the Gulf of Mexico and its surroundings.

To the whales, dolphins, pelicans, fish,

shellfish, plankton, coral, algae,

and all living creatures . . .

I am sorry.

Please forgive me.

Thank you.

I love you. "

It is a very simple, straight forward prayer. It is a prayer of forgiveness, thanksgiving and love. Our country has fallen so deeply into a negative reality that keeps us prisoners to our dark thoughts of anger and fear. There has to be another way. If our thoughts can make things worse… they can also make things better. Our thoughts can actually heal our fractured Earth and our fractured country.

God Bless America!

Food for THOUGHT…

Breaking News!

2010-06-09T19:53:00.000-07:00

President Palin and Vice President Cheney just announced that the Gulf of Mexico is now full of oil. BP has also announced that their barrier from the tip of Florida to Venezuela is finished much to the pleasure of Venezuelan President, Hugo Chavez. Vice President Cheney was seen loading extra battery packs to his pacemaker in all the excitement.

“What a wonderful day for America,” said President Palin. “Dick’s dream has come true. The secret energy policy he put together with the heads of all the oil companies and his own firm, Haliburton, during the Bush administration, has now come to pass. I want to thank all of you who kept the faith to ‘drill, baby, drill.’ I also want to thank all the state and federal regulators, congressmen and senators that resisted the calls of the environmentalists, liberals and even you progressives out there (you know who you are) and used that money you were given to make this day happen. God Bless you!”

Vice President Cheney was wheeled to the podium in the White House Rose Garden for a few remarks. With tears in his eyes, he said, “This is the happiest day of my life. Without the massive incompetence and corruption of the folks at BP, we could never have accomplished such a natural wonder as this sea of petroleum off our shores. Yes, there are those whiners and complainers that we have yet to round up under my new American Patriots Act, and they will tell you that we have traded our secure energy future for a bunch of dead birds and fish that nobody gives a damn about. There are people that have hotels, resorts and homes along the coast that are crying in their beers over the black, sticky goo covering once pristine beaches, but I say to them, tough nuggies. Get over it. We got oil, baby!”

There was a bit of a stir as Vice President Cheney was being wheeled from the podium. Some reports indicated a small amount of smoke was coming from his pacemaker. President Palin returned to the podium and continued with her remarks and a stunning announcement. After putting on a fresh coat of lipstick, she said, “To our former friends in the Middle East, go pound sand! We’ve got more oil than all of you combined now. To the rest of the world, bring your tankers to the Florida Keys and get in line. The new Dick Cheney / Haliburton Oil Port is open for bid’ness.”

As the President was concluding her remarks at the White House, other reports were coming from New Orleans indicating that a massive oil fire was burning up the evacuated Gulf Coast and spreading out to sea. The public was told not to worry, however. The BP Fire Suppression Team was on it and they would have the fire out soon.

Food for THOUGHT…

Judging People

2010-05-26T21:22:00.000-07:00

No one likes to think that they are judgmental, but we are. Some more than others, but it seems to be a part of the human condition…we judge. Fat, skinny, short, tall, rich, poor, liberal, conservative… we all judge. That, we cannot deny.

How many times have you stood in line at the grocery store and wondered why in the world would that person buy that kind of food? Why would such a pretty young woman get a tattoo? Is that kid really wearing his baggy pants below his butt? Does that old guy with the comb-over really think it hides his bald spot? What’s worse is that most of the time we are doing it unconsciously, without even thinking.

So why do we judge people, even those closest to us?

Egos. Our egos constantly need to know that they are smarter than, stronger than, better looking than and ultimately…superior to others. Yet, our egos lay hidden deep within who we THINK we are just waiting for the chance to leap out. We unconsciously see others as more than or less than, but rarely equal to who we are.

Being aware of our egos and the ego’s need to be fed is the first step to getting off the judgment-go-round. Become aware that we are judging! In that awareness, we come to realize that in judging others…we are ultimately judging our selves. In judging others, we see ourselves as separate and apart from everyone else. We fail to see, we fail to understand how we are all connected to one another.

In our isolation and uniqueness, our egos go to work telling us that we are more important, we are more RIGHT, we are more moral than others. That feeling of superiority and that feeling of “rightness” too often leads to violence, war, torture, rape and murder. Our egos allow us to view others as less than human. Thus we have the Holocaust and the Killing Fields of Cambodia and a whole host of other atrocities throughout history. Our egos become like the jealous thumb that secretly plots to rid the hand of its fingers only to find that the hand can no longer grasp and climb.

We judge because of our egos. It blinds us to who we really are.

Food for THOUGHT…

Home Schooling

2010-05-14T00:02:00.000-07:00

My daughter has made the decision to home school her children. Public education is a mess today and even though home schooling is not for everyone, I believe that for some families it can make sense. My daughter taught math before leaving the profession to start her family. Her husband and his siblings were home schooled until he won a scholarship to college. I guess, in their case, they certainly know what they are doing.

Working at the Alamo, I see bus load after bus load of school kids coming on field trips. Too many of these public school children are loud and disrespectful in the Alamo Shrine and Long Barrack Museum. Their teachers and chaperones do little to control them or enforce the rules that are posted in the buildings and on the grounds. This spring has been the worst on record.

By contrast the home school students that come to the Alamo are normally very polite and quite interested in the history that surrounds them. Their teacher/parents take an active role during their visit to this historic shrine. They often ask some of the most thoughtful questions. It is a pleasure to have them. They also have the luxury of seeing the Alamo in small groups instead of noisy mobs where their teachers often have to scream and yell to get their attention.

Often the public school kids create havoc when they invade the Alamo Gift Shop in large numbers. The children remove items from the shelves and leave them all over the store. Some kids like to tear open the packaging so they can play with the toy inside, which they never buy, of course. When they do make their way to the register with their “treasures,” the frustrated cashier often receives a fist full of coins and bills with the expectation that the clerk is to count it out for them and tell them if they have enough. When they do not have enough money, they stand there dumfounded, expecting the clerk to just give it to them or make up the difference from their own pocket. For students to be this ignorant of money and the value of things is inexcusable in my book.

Today our public schools are missing the mark. So much pressure is put on the children to pass multiple choice, standardized tests, but they can’t make change in a store. Lessons on manners and appropriate behavior take a back seat to reading and science. Many school districts have had to cut back on music and physical education programs. Lunch programs consist of salty, high sugar and high fat junk foods and drinks. And we wonder why our kids are getting fat, behave poorly and cannot handle a simple monetary transaction?

I suppose it is easy to place all the blame on the teachers, but in all fairness teachers have their hands full with overcrowded classrooms and fewer resources thanks to budget cutbacks. With ridged curriculum guidelines, they have less time and flexibility to practice their profession. Parents have to share a big part of the blame as well. If the child is not taught the value of money, the joy of learning and proper behavior by their parents in their own homes, then why would the teachers be the ones expected to turn things around at school?

I wish my daughter and son-in-law luck with their grand adventure. Emma and Ashlyn are very fortunate indeed.

Food for THOUGHT…

Drill, Baby, Drill!

2010-05-05T20:27:00.000-07:00

You got to love our Governor Rick Perry from the great State of Texas when he says the massive BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico could possibly be an “act of God.” This is the same Governor Perry who seemed to support a bunch of “yahoos” a few months ago calling for the secession of Texas from the union. He was the same governor who turned down federal stimulus money for Texas schools, even though Texas ranks near the bottom of all the states in education. Alaska, I believe, was the other state to turn down the federal funding. Our Governor Rick Perry was also the guy who was going to bring toll roads to Texas and hand them over to a private company in Spain. When it comes to deal making the governor is real slick.

Now there are some who say our governor is a “big sissy” for using a laser guided pistol to shoot a coyote during an evening stroll a few days ago, but he explained that he needed the gun to shoot “rattlers” when he goes out for his walks. Well that’s different then, isn’t it? And don’t forget another governor from the great state of Alaska used to hunt wolves from airplanes. Now wolves and coyotes may not be quite the same, but both governors like to shoot things, so there you go!

It would be the perfect ticket when our Governor Perry “throws his hat into the Presidential ring” come 2012: Perry and Palin. Their battle cry can be, “Drill, Baby, Drill!” They both love to drill things that destroy nature, shoot wildlife, say they are going to secede from the United States, turn down much needed funding from Uncle Sam and blame God for manmade disasters. There is nothing “sissy” about that. That takes balls.

If you thought George W. was a hoot… wait until this Texan governor comes to Washington. Gee, I can hardly wait.

Food for THOUGHT…

What the Polls Say

2010-04-17T20:57:00.000-07:00

We have become a nation of polls and poll takers. During election campaigns, we are fed a steady diet of polls projecting which candidate is ahead or behind by how many points. Politicians take great stock in what the polls say about them and their electability. Their campaigns rise and fall sometimes by a matter of points. Even so, many politicians outwardly choose to dismiss the latest polls against them and wave the flag of victory when the polls are running in their favor.

Polls are used for more than election campaigns. They can be used to take the pulse of the Nation, gauge the thinking of a group of people on a variety of issues and problems. Polls can spotlight what people believe to be true. A recent Harris Poll of Republicans had some fascinating insights. Among the Republicans polled:

57% Believe President Obama is a Muslim.
38% Believe that President Obama is doing things that Adolph Hitler had done.
24% Believe that President Obama is the Anti-Christ.

Wow! That last one knocked me for a loop. The Anti-Christ? Really? And George W. Bush is the second coming of Ronald Reagan! It would seem that based on this particular poll, the Republican Party has departed from reality. If these are truly what some Republicans believe, then I can better understand the fear and the vitriolic attacks against our President. But then I have to ask, how did we get to this point of insanity. If I were a moderate Republican with an open mind, I would be embarrassed by that poll. I would be insulted by that poll and I might be looking for another party.

When I was a kid, my parents may not have agreed with the President, but there was respect for the person holding the office. I can’t imagine my parents saying that the President of the United States was the Anti-Christ or hear them compare our President to Adolph Hitler. Something very fundamental is changing the face of American politics today. We have lost something very important. The times are frightening.

Will reason, sanity, civility and respect return to America or will we sink to the depths of depravity and chaos?

Food for THOUGHT…

God Says

2010-03-31T11:36:00.000-07:00

God was being interviewed by a Fox News reporter when the angel Gabriel and St. Peter interrupted Him. There was a problem. It was Dorothy’s time to go Home, but she didn’t want to leave. He excused himself from the interview and went to speak to Dorothy.

God: Dorothy, it is your time. Don’t you want to leave?

Dorothy: What about my friends and my family? They will miss me.

God: You have even more friends and family waiting for you on the other side. They have been missing you too.

Dorothy: But I have so much to do. There is so much I left undone in my life. I hate to leave my life incomplete. I never went skydiving. I never climbed a mountain. I never wrote that novel. I never did that one great thing that would define my life, make me be remembered.

God: Why do you think you won’t get another chance to do all those things and more?
Dorothy: You mean I get to come back? I get a do-over?

God: How many would you like?

Dorothy: Don’t we just get one shot at life? Aren’t we judged on what we do or don’t do in this life? What if I haven’t done enough? Will I go to Hell and burn for eternity?

God: Is that what you think? Is that what you believe, Dorothy?

Dorothy: Well, no. I guess not. I certainly hope not. But I was taught to believe that…

God: Dorothy, you have forgotten what you already know. Close your eyes and remember your birth. You knew then, but you were a baby and you couldn’t tell anyone. In time, what you knew faded.

Dorothy: (Beginning to cry.) Yes. I forgot, didn’t I? Everything is so clear now. Thank you Lord, for reminding me. I have done everything I intended to do in this life. But there is more, isn’t there?

God: Yes there is and you will be back one day. There is no real end, only beginnings and learning and growing. Now isn’t that better than burning in torment forever with no hope of salvation?

Dorothy: But why do we forget each time?

God: You won’t always. There will come a time when you will remember and you will become the Teacher like others before you.

Dorothy: I’m ready to go now, I guess, but the world is such a mess. There is so much hatred and fear, mostly fear. I tried to love more this time, but fear got to me too many times, I think.

God: You did what you could do. You’ll have more chances and more chances after that. Remember?

Dorothy: Of course.

God: Go in Peace that surpasses all understanding my little one. The world will always need you. So many have forgotten what they already know in their heart of hearts. They listen to fear and forget that Love trumps anything that fear can produce. Remember fear is only an illusion. Love is the only reality there is.

Dorothy: I love you, Lord.

God: I love you, too, Dorothy. See you next time. Give my blessings to your family and friends! They are waiting for you.

Food for THOUGHT…

Where was the Outrage?

2010-03-24T20:57:00.000-07:00

I find it very bazaar that we have such hate and vitriolics over the just passed Healthcare Bill. It was one step meant to help and protect millions of Americans. One party and one President has become so vilified in the press over one issue. Washington has ground to a halt as the opposition party obstructs everything…Obama… and the party in power runs for cover or joins the other side.

Civil, thoughtful and respectful debate has given way to shouting, threats and acts of violence and assault by people who take great stock in calling themselves patriots and people of faith. Our own congressmen shout down fellow congressmen and even the President with “Liar!” and “Baby Killer.” Talk of “death panels” and “pulling the plug on Grandma” passed around like popcorn hoping to scare the crap out of voters and legislators. Congressmen were spit upon and racial and homophobic slurs were shouted as they went to vote on the bill. Even the office windows of some Democratic congressmen were smashed in the night.

Now that the bill has been signed into law, there is talk of law suits and even more obstruction and civil action. Protesters are on TV waiving signs that portray our President as a socialist and even a Nazi. I can’t stand to watch the news anymore for all the ignorance and violence I see and hear. It’s like a little child throwing a temper tantrum over not getting its way.

So I’m wondering where was the outrage when President Bush took us to war in Iraq under false pretenses? Where was the outrage when Cheney, Bush and the Neocons pushed through the Patriot Act that took a whole bunch of our civil rights away with one stroke of a pen? Where were the Tea-partiers when American phones and e-mails were being tapped and libraries under surveillance without court orders? Why weren’t they in the streets with their signs and slogans threatening to secede from the Union back then?

For 8 years this country lived under the control of the conservative fear mongers, the Rush Limbaughs, the Ann Coulters and the Bill O’Reillys. For 8 years our schools got worse, our infrastructure crumbled, our healthcare system fell apart and Wall Street got fat and greedy. For 8 years no one was minding the store. We just kept pumping billions of our tax dollars into two wars halfway around the world. We went from a surplus under Clinton to a mountainous deficit and growing…

So we had an election. People voted for change just as the past 8 years all came tumbling down like a house of cards. People wanted things to get done HERE AT HOME. They were tired of being the bad guys and disrespected and hated around the world. They wanted things to get fixed, TO GET DONE! A black man stepped up to the plate with a shovel and with the courage to at least try and yet he gets ripped from head to toe with outrage. I’ve never seen so much outrage now that there is a new party in power, a new manager with new ideas and the audacity of HOPE.

So where was the outrage over the last 8 years? Where was the outrage over 8 years of waste in lives and billions of dollars? Where was the outrage over the loss of our civil liberties and a true big government takeover of our lives? Where was the outrage over the FEAR we were sold like a bill of goods over the last 8 years?

Why does the one man who is trying to change the status quo, fix the mess, make things better get painted as the bad guy, the evil villain? Who are these talking heads that keep telling us THEY speak for me and all Americans against our President?

Food for THOUGHT…

Surviving the Future

2010-03-03T11:25:00.000-08:00

President Palin sat brooding in the Oval Office. Things had seemed so simple on the campaign trail, but now the world seemed complex and troublesome. Congress was still in revolt and not one of her bills was being passed. It was one filibuster after another! She had spent her political capital on giving Alaska and Texas their independence shortly after taking office. Where were her friends in the Tea Party now? Her running mate, Vice President Limbaugh, was writing a book about the “moose-gate” campaign scandal. She didn’t mean to kill off all the moose in Alaska. Even her children and Todd were writing their own books about her campaign faux pas. She felt so alone. She thought about her predecessor and began to understand how he must have felt.

Mexico and Canada were pressuring her to do something about all the illegal immigrants streaming into their countries from the United States. How could she blame her fellow citizens with unemployment at 50% and the collapse of that healthcare-thingy. She had to admit at last that people really do need jobs and they need affordable healthcare. The lure of the Canadian healthcare system and Mexican jobs was too great. What could she do?

With no economic reforms coming from Congress, the banks, insurance companies and the large multinational corporations were running everything. Her own campaign was bought and paid for by that unholy alliance. She worked for them now, as would anyone running for office, since the Supreme Court overturned campaign finance reforms during the last administration.

China and India were now coming here to set up sweat-shops. The cheap, undereducated American labor pool attracted their reverse exploitation. Who knew that education was so important? Only the children of the wealthy could afford an education and they were going to Indian universities. Haitian financial aid was now pouring into the United States. My how the times have changed, she thought.

In all fairness, she had tried to create jobs. What about all the “drill, baby, drill” she did up in Alaska and off the coast of Florida, Texas and California? And what about all the nuclear power plants she built? So there were oil spills and melt-downs. Big deal! California was already bankrupt and falling into the ocean and who goes to Florida anymore. Their beaches were overrated anyway. It wasn’t her fault that the smog and pollution, now hanging permanently over the country, made solar panels unusable. None of it was her fault.

Her one big regret was having to leave U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Even when our troops were no longer needed or wanted there, she could not afford to bring them home. She hoped that in time our troops might assimilate into their respective cultures. On the bright side, their abandonment cut her defense budget to almost nothing. Still, she’d miss her son. Perhaps he could still write now and then.

Since America had become such a miserable place, terrorism was no longer a threat. The radical Muslims now set their sights on Toyota cars and trucks. President Palin had breathed a sigh of relief when Osama sent out a video claiming that the United States was no longer worth blowing up. He said his car, a Toyota Camry, almost killed him when the accelerator stuck. He now had a new devil.

President Palin began to smile. She thought things weren’t that bad after all. Perhaps it was time to resign and write another book.

Food for THOUGHT…

The President's Bipartisan Meeting

2010-02-24T16:27:00.000-08:00

I picture the President’s meeting in Washington this week with Democrat and Republican law-makers going something like this:

“I want to thank you all for attending this summit today. I also want to thank C-Span for televising our efforts to come together in a bipartisan effort to end this legislative gridlock that has beset the nation in my first year in office. Gentlemen, if you are ready, let’s get started. We have much to do. We can start with healthcare, jobs or financial reform. What would you like to discuss first?” said President Obama.

“I respectfully request that the TV cameras be tuned off and that we adjourn the meeting. We agreed to show up, against our better judgment I might add, and now that we have, I feel we have lived up to our part of the bargain. After all we should not be seen talking with the enemy,” said Senator Boehner.

“Now Senator, you all agreed to come and talk today. The Nation wants us to get things done. Let’s start off with a list of things we both agree on when it comes to healthcare reform. Katherine is passing out a list of all the things that have been supported by Republicans during the Bush Administration. Let’s start with those and see if we can build on them. I’ve talked with my fellow Democrats and we are willing to include all of these points in our healthcare reform bill,” said the President.

“No. We don’t agree with any of them.”

“But Senator, these are your points! These are things you have supported in the past.”

“That was before YOU proposed them, Mr. President. Sorry.”

“Okay, let’s move on to Jobs. Surly we can all agree on creating more jobs to get our economy back on track. We have too many Americans out of work. Millions of our fellow citizens are suffering,” said President Obama. “Hilda, you want to pass around the list of proposed tax cuts and tax breaks for small businesses that our bipartisan caucus put together late last night?”

“We’ve lost our sound, Mr. President,” said a C-Span technician.

“Senator McConnell, you want to hand me those wire cutters, please? Joe, take this duct tape and my pocket knife and see what you can do, will you?”

“Socialist dog! You lie!”

“Now Senator Wilson, that’s not being very productive. Shouting and name calling are not going to help us find a solution to our problems. Let’s move on. Our newest senator, Senator Brown from Massachusetts. Perhaps you can summarize Republican ideas for financial reform in America’s banking industry,” said President Obama as he took some aspirin and rubbed his temples.

“I have nothing to say, Mr. President. After helping to stop that last filibuster, boy oh boy am I on probation with my fellow Republicans. You are on your own, sir.”

“Do any of you have any plans, proposals, ideas, power point presentations? Anything?!”

A long silence.

“Yes, Senator McCain. Thank you. Finally, we are getting somewhere. You have something?” said the President with a sigh of relief.

“Mr. President I move that we all break for lunch.”

And so it goes.

Food for THOUGHT…

Run, Sarah, Run!

2010-02-13T09:47:00.001-08:00

Former vice-presidential candidate and former Alaskan governor Sarah Palin attended a Tea Party in Nashville, Tennessee the other day. It was a wonderful affair full of cheering and shouting conventioneers who were excited about her participation. She did not disappoint them. She gave them barbs and jabs directed toward President Obama and Democrats in general. The rabble loved it! She praised the Tea Party movement as the “future of politics in America.”

Palin asked the gathering: "How's that hope-y, change-y stuff workin' out for ya?" The former Alaska governor, who resigned from office last summer before completing her first term, offered a smile when a moderator asking her questions used the phrase "President Palin." The audience stood up and chanted "Run, Sarah, Run!" fueling more speculation that she might run for the top spot in 2012. But is she a future Republican Party presidential candidate or an independent candidate looking for a movement to lead? If the latter, I could not select a better leader, a better representative of this misguided, hot-headed group of ultra conservatives. If the former then God help those moderate Republicans hanging on to their party by their fingernails.

Yes indeed, Run Sarah, Run! And while you are at it, write some more books and do a few more interviews. But, just a word of advice, if I may. Use note cards or even better use one of those new-fangled teleprompter thing-ys. I know, I know! You ripped the President for using them, but that way you won’t have to keep looking down at your palm. You can just keep smiling and waving to the crowd and talking…folksy. Lipstick!

Food for THOUGHT…

Is it Just Me?

2010-02-03T12:02:00.000-08:00

That’s the question I’ve been asking a lot lately. I keep waiting for progressives, like me, to mobilize and beat on Washington’s door and say enough is enough! Stop trying to kill each other and get things done! This chasm between liberal and conservatives, Republicans and Democrats continues to widen and deepen. The rhetoric gets louder and more hostile. Lies and platitudes are being thrown around with abandon. We don’t know who to trust anymore. The news media are now owned by large corporations and filled with talking partisan heads. Both sides wrap themselves in the flag and claim to be about the “People’s Business,” but nothing gets done. Gridlock, hate, lies and promises are all they produce.

So many of us wanted change, but we got more of the same old crap that has been destroying our country and our nation’s very character. I’m watching America dividing into different camps and preparing for war at a time when we should be coming together for our common good. We should be rebuilding our nation’s infrastructure including roads, bridges and schools and putting Americans back to work. We should be building solar panels and wind turbines and driving electric cars. We should be figuring out ways to keep people in their homes and regulate banks and insurance companies. We should have affordable healthcare for everyone and schools that can not only compete but lead the rest of the world. We should be repairing and protecting our environment and figuring out ways to reduce our carbon footprint on this planet. We should be spreading peace and good will around the world and exploring the promise of Space.

I mean have I lost it? Are Americans no longer capable of innovation, leadership and noble action? Are we doomed to fall into an… uncivil war of words and political gridlock? Are we doomed to be subjugated by our large multi-national corporations and banks and a handful of power brokers that control our money, our elections and our news media? Have we given away our precious votes to ideologues and bogus theologians? Have we given away our country’s heart and soul?

Is it just me?

Food for THOUGHT…

I got the Washington Blues!

2010-01-25T19:04:00.000-08:00

The recent Supreme Court 5 to 4 ruling undoing hard fought campaign election reforms will have devastating consequences for this country. It has ushered in change, but not the kind of change many Americans imagined only a year ago. The ruling will allow corporations and unions to spend unlimited amounts of money to support or defeat any candidate they choose. From this point on, what politician would ever dare take a controversial stand on anything against big business or unions lest they seal their political doom. The idea that the CEO’s of large banks, insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies, with their billions of dollars to influence elections have the same right to free speech as individual voters, seems not only foolish but horrific.

At a time when President Obama has declared war on big banks for paying out huge bonuses after being bailed out with taxpayer money, they are probably laughing at their good fortune and lining up their support for those candidates who will do their bidding in the mid-term elections. They now have the money WE gave them… to use on negative attack ads…lots and lots of those obnoxious half-truths and flat out lies. They will use their wealth and good fortune to bury any politician who would dare oppose them. Campaigns are now won and lost by who has the most money. Their number one target will be the one man who dared to call for change. The good ol’ boys hate change unless it is the kind of change that will give them even more wealth and power. With this Supreme Court ruling, we no longer have a nation of we the people. We have now become a nation of we the Corporations.

I see this ruling as one more nail in America’s coffin. Bitter partisan politics have stopped any hope of getting things done in Washington. Both sides have lost sight of the fact that America is made up of people, people who are hurting and out of work. America is made up of people who need health care reform, people who are trying to hold on to their hopes and dreams, but are losing their homes. Our infrastructure is crumbling around us and we are falling behind the rest of the world when it comes to education. We can spend money on war and big bank bailouts, but how dare we spend money on American infrastructure, education and those of us struggling on Main Street, USA. Washington continues to fiddle while our country burns and falls apart.

Only a year ago, I had such hope that both sides might somehow come together after 8 years of poor leadership that got us into two wars and made us one of the most despised nations in the world and a target for terrorists. This Supreme Court ruling was another step backward for Americans. It had nothing to do with freedom of speech. It was just the opposite. Money will more than ever determine who can run for office and what the candidates stand for. God help us all.

Food for THOUGHT…

I Am

2010-01-19T19:42:00.000-08:00

From the moment of our birth to the day of our death, each of us walks a unique path of joys and sorrows that shape the “I AM” we become.

I am a father. I am a husband. I am a son. I am a brother. I am a grandpa. I am an author. I am an artist. I am a painter. I am a historical interpreter. My parents were divorced when I was too young to remember their marriage. I grew up on a farm with a brother and a sister and an adopted father. I moved to a white, middle class suburb of Chicago, Illinois. I went to college, got married, bought a house and had children. I was divorced and remarried and divorced again before meeting the one person who fit my… I Am.

I have travelled to places like Kankakee, Illinois, Paris, France, Rome, Italy and Athens, Greece. I have lived among the corn and bean fields of the Midwest and explored the Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico. I have walked the beaches of Mexico and climbed the Mayan Pyramids in the Yucatan. I have experienced winter blizzards of blinding snow and sub freezing temperatures in Martinton, Illinois and I have watched the early morning waves roll in and crash on the shore in Vero Beach, Florida.

I have joyously welcomed children and grandchildren into my family and I have said my sorrowful good-byes when aunts, uncles and my own parents have passed on. I have gone from being a young boy on my great grandma’s lap to a middle-aged man at his mother’s funeral. I have known wonderful friends and feared misguided bullies that have come into and then out of my life, each leaving a piece of who I have become.

I have been molded by my joys and sorrows, my fears and my triumphs. I have been tested in times of deep despair that made me stronger in the end. I have learned empathy and grace from those I have loved and who loved me. I have known glimpses of wisdom as well as moments of stupidity. I have witnessed terrible cruelty and acts of random kindness. In the moments of my deepest darkness and pain, I have asked why and received the answer...why not.

The “I Am” that I have become is the sum total of all that I have lived so far on my path in this life. Each experience, each person, each place becoming a piece of the mosaic of who I am… a work in progress. With a mind open to possibilities, I might one day believe that I make the pieces of my mosaic and place them where I will.

Food for THOUGHT…

Celebrate What’s Right with the World

2010-01-02T13:39:00.000-08:00

2009 was a hard year. It was a scary year full of economic peril and partisan politics. We started out so full of hope and the promise of change only to find more of the same old disappointment and heartburn. I started to wonder what I would write about at the start of a new year with so many disappointments from the last year stirring in my head. Then a friend sent me this video clip. Thanks Dennis! It reminded me of something very important, something I’m still learning. Our THOUGHTS and how we perceive our world…create our reality.

If we look for trouble, if we look for disappointment, if we look for divisiveness…we will surely find it. This past year has proven it. But what if we look for what is right with the world? What if we celebrate it? What if we jump for joy and give thanks for all that is good and true in our lives? What if we celebrate our many blessings and found something of beauty in everything we see? We truly do create our own reality with our thoughts, if we are only open to the possibilities.

Please watch this video clip and pass it on. Have a wonderful New Year in 2010!

http://uk.video.yahoo.com/watch/1598539/5397639

Food for THOUGHT

Come Fly With Me

2009-12-30T08:16:00.000-08:00

When I was a kid, my father was a captain with American Airlines during the golden age of commercial aviation. Flying in those days was quite a luxury. People would actually get dressed up. They could get their ticket and walk directly to their gate and board their flight. Passengers were treated like a valued customer. We were given meals and snacks and even drinks for free. People could smoke! Seats were comfortable. You could check your luggage without charge and not worry that some baggage handler would go through your things. If a bag did get lost, they would find it and deliver it to your door. The airlines competed to see who could be the most hospitable. It was a pleasure to fly.

With the advent of highjackers, terrorists, bombings, attempted bombings and 9/11, commercial aviation has become complicated, potentially dangerous and most assuredly…inconvenient. For the sake of safety, the flying public has had to endure many changes. First, we must all carry and provide approved forms of picture ID’s. We are asked to remove our shoes and stand in long lines to go through security checkpoints by TSA agents. Because of this, we are told to come to the airport at least 2 hours (now 3 hours!) before our flight leaves. Once we wind our way to the security gates we must empty our pockets, wallets, coats and keys into trays. These items along with our carry on bags are placed on conveyers to be scanned by X-ray machines. Any fingernail clippers, pocket knives, and liquids over 3 ounces are confiscated. Then we are poked and probed after stepping through the metal detector in our stocking feet. Having passed that procedure we race to the end of the conveyor to retrieve our bags, wallets, loose change, keys and shoes so that we can reassemble ourselves and move on to our departure gate.

Once at the gate, we wait for our section to be called for boarding. We are herded like cattle down a shoot into a metal tube with narrow aisles. We scramble to find space in the overhead bins near our seats (if you can get an assigned seat) before some moron shoves an oversized suitcase or duffle bag in your space. God help you if you are old or weak and cannot lift your carry on over your head and into the bin. Once that is accomplished we sink into our narrow seat with no leg room and pray that we do not get hemmed in by some large guy who drools in his sleep, a “talker” or a parent with a screaming baby. Forget about meals and snacks, we will be lucky to get a half can of soda in a plastic cup and a bag of peanuts. We will be expected to stay scrunched in our seat for hours. If we need to use the restroom, good luck getting past the other passengers also scrunched next to us. Once out in the aisle, we can stand in line with several other passengers waiting to use the one working toilet in coach (no one in coach is allowed to use the use ones in first class) and just hope the plane does not hit turbulence. Then it’s back to our seats with seatbelts on. Oh, New Rule! We can’t use the toilets an hour before landing. Suck it up and cross your legs. If you soil your seat…you own it. Coming soon: pay toilets!

Upon landing, we scramble to the luggage area to retrieve the extra bags that we had to pay a fee to check because we are allowed only one small bag as a carry on. Once there… we wait. We hope and pray that our bags made it by the baggage handlers in one piece. If we pass that hurdle, we scramble to find ground transportation and breathe a sigh of relief. The return trip starts the process all over again.

Yes, we want to stay safe when we fly, but come on! What happened to those days I remember when flying was glamorous and pleasurable, when we were treated like a real person, a valued customer? Fear is what has happened. Cost cutting to make the bottom line is what has happened. Not enough people flying are what has happened. Cut rate fares are what has happened. People stopped being valued customers. We became potential terrorists. We became a commodity to move from point A to point B in the cheapest way possible.

Moooo! Happy New Year!

Food for THOUGHT…

Healthcare and Washington

2009-12-19T20:05:00.000-08:00

I was hopeful when the House passed its version of the Healthcare Reform Bill with a public option. It looked like we might actually DO something that would address the healthcare crisis in this country. For too many Americans private healthcare insurance is becoming or is in fact too costly. Too many Americans are being priced out of the market with sky rocketing premiums that go nowhere but up. Even if you can afford the premiums, you can’t afford to get sick with outrageous deductibles and out of pocket expenses and caps on coverage. It makes you wonder why you are paying all that money each month to some big insurance company, only to be told that you are not covered or the portion you have to pay still bankrupts you. And we wonder where all that money has gone.

When the Senate began debating its version of the bill, things began to unravel big time. Even though Democrats have enough votes to pass a bill, they began to fall apart in the face of the Republican stone wall. The Party of NO dug in its heels and has done everything it can to end any hope of meaningful healthcare reform. But they did not do it alone they had help from conservative Democrats and independents like our old pal, “which way is the wind blowing” Joe Lieberman. First, they dropped the public healthcare option and then they scuttled the early Medicare buy-in option. They singlehandedly eliminated any kind of competition that would have forced the private insurance industry to start lowering their prices and cutting costs. The bill would still require everyone to purchase insurance, but without a low cost public option, what incentive would there be for the insurance industry to lower their costs? In fact, they would seem to benefit tremendously with millions of Americans being forced by law to buy into a broken healthcare system that they control. Yes, they would have to provide coverage for people with preexisting conditions, but what better excuse to make that coverage prohibitive with higher prices. Those who least could afford it would be caught in the squeeze of following the law and the inability to afford the coverage they need.

Once again FEAR and special interest groups reign supreme in our nation’s capitol. Reason and common sense have lost again. Our nation’s poor, working poor and middle class will be left out to dry. Once again this country will have the best healthcare system…that MONEY can buy.

Food for THOUGHT…