As I prepare to join loved ones for the Thanksgiving Holiday I try to remind myself:
1. The people I love best do not all hold similar political viewpoints.
2, Digestion and politics do not always mix well.
3. My family tends to be a tad diverse in its political philosophies (as in some voted for Obama and some really, really wanted Romney to win).
4. We all love turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, Mom's gravy and REAL mashed potatoes.
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.
Here's what I think...
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Friday, November 9, 2012
As Time Runs Out
I recently learned something interesting about myself. If I think I have very little time left, I will spend what time I do have trying to tie up loose ends!
Does this make sense? I am really not in a position to judge. I can only say that trying to make things easier for my loved ones down the road and attempting to fulfill the earthly obligations I believe I am responsible for, is more important to me than almost anything else.
Does this make sense? I am really not in a position to judge. I can only say that trying to make things easier for my loved ones down the road and attempting to fulfill the earthly obligations I believe I am responsible for, is more important to me than almost anything else.
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Life Happens
During the wee hours of the morning on September 25, life happened. I awoke with what I thought was indigestion. Drove myself to the local hospital. And the medical profession and my family began a fight to keep me on this earthly plane awhile longer. A transfer to Albany Med's Cardiac Care Unit; an emergency angioplasty cum stents; an encounter with defibrillators; an anxious watch in ICU as my scattered family gathered to my bedside and an easing of tension as my condition stabilized and my family began to breath easier.
When I emerged from the fog, my older daughter was sitting quietly by my bedside. I apologized to her for being unable to be "sociable"! She calmly announced she was quite happy to just sit there quietly and keep me company.
Later that night my younger daughter and her husband brought my 97 year old mother 200 miles to my bedside. (They wheeled her in - for once she agreed to a wheel chair - her tartan hat in place, favorite earrings and gold pin on, calm and undramatic (that was NOT typical).)
On September 26 my husband arrived after a frantic scramble to get an earlier flight from Austin, TX.
Three weeks later I am finally beginning to process my changed reality. A person who has always HATED drugs, now takes a slew of them. I hadn't been feeling well for some time, but it never occurred to me I had heart disease. Think again - I do. I thought it was time for me to check out. The medical profession and my family disagreed. I am still here. But everything else seems different. I am a nonbeliever. But many, many people prayed very, very hard for my recovery. I thought my cigarette addiction would send me to my grave unabated, but I haven't had one since September 24 (I try really, really hard not to think about them). It seems like I have been given a "second chance", but part of me thinks it is still way too soon to tell.
Today I spoke with a good friend who had a very similar experience in 2008. Vivian and I made a pact - if we live to our 90th year, we will both take up smoking again!
When I emerged from the fog, my older daughter was sitting quietly by my bedside. I apologized to her for being unable to be "sociable"! She calmly announced she was quite happy to just sit there quietly and keep me company.
Later that night my younger daughter and her husband brought my 97 year old mother 200 miles to my bedside. (They wheeled her in - for once she agreed to a wheel chair - her tartan hat in place, favorite earrings and gold pin on, calm and undramatic (that was NOT typical).)
On September 26 my husband arrived after a frantic scramble to get an earlier flight from Austin, TX.
Three weeks later I am finally beginning to process my changed reality. A person who has always HATED drugs, now takes a slew of them. I hadn't been feeling well for some time, but it never occurred to me I had heart disease. Think again - I do. I thought it was time for me to check out. The medical profession and my family disagreed. I am still here. But everything else seems different. I am a nonbeliever. But many, many people prayed very, very hard for my recovery. I thought my cigarette addiction would send me to my grave unabated, but I haven't had one since September 24 (I try really, really hard not to think about them). It seems like I have been given a "second chance", but part of me thinks it is still way too soon to tell.
Today I spoke with a good friend who had a very similar experience in 2008. Vivian and I made a pact - if we live to our 90th year, we will both take up smoking again!
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Does Voter IDs = Voter Suppression?
Passing and enforcing voter ID/voter suppression laws across this country appears to be the latest manifestation of the "White Man's Burden."
Should Blacks, Hispanics, Muslims and really poor people be allowed to vote? Evidently some think not.
Should Blacks, Hispanics, Muslims and really poor people be allowed to vote? Evidently some think not.
Friday, August 24, 2012
Now you see them, now you don't... .
Why do I have this uneasy suspicion that the job of the elected Democrats and Republicans is to use their divisive issues to distract the populace from the activities of the real power brokers working behind the scenes to steal our birthright?
Thursday, August 23, 2012
All Fathers are NOT Created Equal
I recently read that in 32 states rapists have "rights of parenthood" if the rapes they commit result in pregnancy and the women decide to bear the children. This adds an entirely new dimension to the crime against the woman.
Do I believe this happens? Absolutely. For years I watched one of my dearest friends struggle to maintain control of the parenthood of her child. The father was NOT a rapist. He was a deserter who abandoned her to her fate when he learned she was pregnant. He WAS a substance abusing manic-depressive. But family court MANDATED he be given custodial weekend visits.
My friend spent days after these visits dealing with the ramifications of her son's visits with his father. The night terror, the anxiety, the temper tantrums. To this day I do not know how she managed to get through this torturous period of her life.
She never gave up her fight for full custody and after YEARS and repeated failures of her son's father to provide child support, she did achieve it.
Her son is a miracle. A beautiful person because of HER incredible strength and UNFAILING dedication to her own parenthood.
The law, on the other hand, did her no favors and put her and her baby through HELL.
Women's issues are about a lot more than access to abortion and birth control. They are about women's rights to PERSON HOOD.
Politicians like Todd Akin are the tip of the iceberg with his definition of "legitimate" and illegitimate" rape.
This should NOT be a Republican v Democratic issue. It IS NOT a conservative v liberal issue. It is ABOUT THE RIGHTS of 51 percent of this country's population.
We do not live under Sharia Law after all (or do we?).
Do I believe this happens? Absolutely. For years I watched one of my dearest friends struggle to maintain control of the parenthood of her child. The father was NOT a rapist. He was a deserter who abandoned her to her fate when he learned she was pregnant. He WAS a substance abusing manic-depressive. But family court MANDATED he be given custodial weekend visits.
My friend spent days after these visits dealing with the ramifications of her son's visits with his father. The night terror, the anxiety, the temper tantrums. To this day I do not know how she managed to get through this torturous period of her life.
She never gave up her fight for full custody and after YEARS and repeated failures of her son's father to provide child support, she did achieve it.
Her son is a miracle. A beautiful person because of HER incredible strength and UNFAILING dedication to her own parenthood.
The law, on the other hand, did her no favors and put her and her baby through HELL.
Women's issues are about a lot more than access to abortion and birth control. They are about women's rights to PERSON HOOD.
Politicians like Todd Akin are the tip of the iceberg with his definition of "legitimate" and illegitimate" rape.
This should NOT be a Republican v Democratic issue. It IS NOT a conservative v liberal issue. It is ABOUT THE RIGHTS of 51 percent of this country's population.
We do not live under Sharia Law after all (or do we?).
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Pregnancy by Rape or Incest
I hear the stories of Muslim fathers who butcher their raped daughters because these girls have blemished their precious "honor".
I hear American representatives elected by the people claiming there is a difference between "legitimate" i.e. "real" rape and "illegitimate" rape i.e. she said no but meant yes.
My child-bearing years ended decades ago with a hysterectomy. I am well past menopause. But the thought of a woman, any woman, being forced to bear the abomination of a pregnancy inflicted upon her by a rapist's attack still curdles the blood pounding through my veins.
The Church and religion in which I was raised leads the field of those who would insist "punish the rapist, not the child." But what of the victim of the crime? The woman forced first by the superior physical strength of her attacker to undergo the vicious attack upon her very person hood and then by the male-dominated legislaturalists and religionists to bear the hideous fruit of that attack in her body for nine excruciating months?
I speak directly to the Church I abandoned in the 1990s when I finally realized it was a Church that loved men and despised women - This is unacceptable. Your institution protected the rapists of children. Your institution condemned the parents of those children for "attacking the Church" when they protested the violation of those children. Your institution abandoned the nuns who dedicated their lives to your good works or castigated them for not pursuing your anti-abortion anti-birth control agenda and concentrating on serving the poor, the unrepresented, the needy.
A woman, any woman, who is forced by her society's laws to bear the child inflicted upon her by rape or incest has been betrayed by that society. She has been enslaved.
I hear American representatives elected by the people claiming there is a difference between "legitimate" i.e. "real" rape and "illegitimate" rape i.e. she said no but meant yes.
My child-bearing years ended decades ago with a hysterectomy. I am well past menopause. But the thought of a woman, any woman, being forced to bear the abomination of a pregnancy inflicted upon her by a rapist's attack still curdles the blood pounding through my veins.
The Church and religion in which I was raised leads the field of those who would insist "punish the rapist, not the child." But what of the victim of the crime? The woman forced first by the superior physical strength of her attacker to undergo the vicious attack upon her very person hood and then by the male-dominated legislaturalists and religionists to bear the hideous fruit of that attack in her body for nine excruciating months?
I speak directly to the Church I abandoned in the 1990s when I finally realized it was a Church that loved men and despised women - This is unacceptable. Your institution protected the rapists of children. Your institution condemned the parents of those children for "attacking the Church" when they protested the violation of those children. Your institution abandoned the nuns who dedicated their lives to your good works or castigated them for not pursuing your anti-abortion anti-birth control agenda and concentrating on serving the poor, the unrepresented, the needy.
A woman, any woman, who is forced by her society's laws to bear the child inflicted upon her by rape or incest has been betrayed by that society. She has been enslaved.
Sunday, August 19, 2012
How can rape possibly be "legitimate"?
Someone, PLEASE tell me the difference between "legitimate" and illegitimate" rape. In the meantime, please excuse me while I empty my stomach over the toilet bowl.
Saturday, August 18, 2012
The Poor are Spoiled? Really?
I heard someone complain that "poor" people had satellite dishes, flat screen tvs, refrigerators, air conditioners and microwaves. They felt this was inappropriate. But we live in an information age in which you really, really need access; refrigerators keep your food from rotting; air conditioners in cement block inner city blocks that have no shade and no air circulation in 100F+ weather do not sound like a luxury to me and microwaves come in real handy and you can get them pretty damn cheap. I just can't bring myself to resent "poor" people for having what I consider the most basic necessities for any level of comfort for myself.
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
But I LIKE cash!
There are times when the cost of money gets me down. The monthly service charges on my checking account - including a charge for giving me badly faded copies of my checks. But only, mind you, those checks that weren't processed through ACM or ACH or whatever they call it wherein the vendor processes your check for immediate withdrawal from your checking account.
Then there are the charges on my credit card - the charges levied on the vendors. The annual fee I have to pay. Since I pay them off immediately, I can USUALLY avoid late fees and interest charges except on those rare occasions when the U. S. Postal Service fails me. (Oh yeah, I still send in my bill payments by check with a first class stamp! Old fashioned? Maybe. But far CHEAPER than paying them online!
The other day I overheard a bank officer listing penalty charges for a debit card customer who was trying to clean up her account. $30 damn bucks for each charge against the account that had insufficient funds and he listed a lot of them. A simple refusal to pay the damn debit would have been far more reasonable and fair.
Soooo. When I go to the supermarket, I pay cash. When I eat out, except on those rare occasions at VERY expensive restaurants, I pay cash.
Buying cigarettes or booze - you betcha I pay cash. No nasty entries on my credit card transactions that become part of my elusive cyberspace identity.
Trips to the casino - same thing. Why give my bank information on ATM withdrawals from casinos? None of their damn business in my opinion.
Every credit card transaction results in a "tax" merchants have to pay. The checking account fees are obscene.
Sooner or later the PTB (Powers that Be) will eliminate cash from my choices. The advantages to them are far too great to ignore. But until they do - Alexander Hamilton, Andrew Jackson (who absolutely HATED BANKS), Ben Franklin and company get my vote!
Then there are the charges on my credit card - the charges levied on the vendors. The annual fee I have to pay. Since I pay them off immediately, I can USUALLY avoid late fees and interest charges except on those rare occasions when the U. S. Postal Service fails me. (Oh yeah, I still send in my bill payments by check with a first class stamp! Old fashioned? Maybe. But far CHEAPER than paying them online!
The other day I overheard a bank officer listing penalty charges for a debit card customer who was trying to clean up her account. $30 damn bucks for each charge against the account that had insufficient funds and he listed a lot of them. A simple refusal to pay the damn debit would have been far more reasonable and fair.
Soooo. When I go to the supermarket, I pay cash. When I eat out, except on those rare occasions at VERY expensive restaurants, I pay cash.
Buying cigarettes or booze - you betcha I pay cash. No nasty entries on my credit card transactions that become part of my elusive cyberspace identity.
Trips to the casino - same thing. Why give my bank information on ATM withdrawals from casinos? None of their damn business in my opinion.
Every credit card transaction results in a "tax" merchants have to pay. The checking account fees are obscene.
Sooner or later the PTB (Powers that Be) will eliminate cash from my choices. The advantages to them are far too great to ignore. But until they do - Alexander Hamilton, Andrew Jackson (who absolutely HATED BANKS), Ben Franklin and company get my vote!
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Enabling The Next Geological Age
For some time I have suspected my reading has been way too concentrated on science fiction and this has had a negative impact on my world vision.
For several years now a persistent thought echoes through my aching brain: the entire purpose of the human race on earth is to prepare its host planet for the next geological age.
I hope I am wrong.
As I witness the merciless, continuous depredations committed against my home, my planet's life support systems by the mindless, unaccountable, unmanageable, apparently indestructible multinational institutions that have gained control of it, I cannot but fear I am right.
Barach Obama was supposed to stem the tide. It appears to me that in the four years of his presidency, it has actually gained force, not lost it.
The United States of America has handed over its birthright lock, stock and barrel to multinational institutions. The disempowerment of its population is well underway.
The European Union is completely in thrall to the leviathan financial institutions that are bringing it to its knees.
If the earth's greatest hope lies in poisonous, Communist/Capitalist China, what hope is left? That somewhere out there in the vast universe some other life forms are faring better than we?
As for me. I surrender. I will continue to fight for survival for my loved ones as best I can. I might even still vote, but spinsters' phrases by political pundits, candidates, PACS are fantasies in which I no longer dare to believe.
For several years now a persistent thought echoes through my aching brain: the entire purpose of the human race on earth is to prepare its host planet for the next geological age.
I hope I am wrong.
As I witness the merciless, continuous depredations committed against my home, my planet's life support systems by the mindless, unaccountable, unmanageable, apparently indestructible multinational institutions that have gained control of it, I cannot but fear I am right.
Barach Obama was supposed to stem the tide. It appears to me that in the four years of his presidency, it has actually gained force, not lost it.
The United States of America has handed over its birthright lock, stock and barrel to multinational institutions. The disempowerment of its population is well underway.
The European Union is completely in thrall to the leviathan financial institutions that are bringing it to its knees.
If the earth's greatest hope lies in poisonous, Communist/Capitalist China, what hope is left? That somewhere out there in the vast universe some other life forms are faring better than we?
As for me. I surrender. I will continue to fight for survival for my loved ones as best I can. I might even still vote, but spinsters' phrases by political pundits, candidates, PACS are fantasies in which I no longer dare to believe.
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
It's all over now, Baby Blue
The recall of Governor Walker of Wisconsin, darling of the Koch Brothers, poster boy of Citizens United and Scourge of Working Stiffs everywhere, evidently failed. Early returns and a preemptive call by NBC have named Walker the winner in the recall election.
Robocalls to voters informing them they did not have to vote if they signed the recall petitions.
Robocalls to voters informing them the election was Wednesday, not Tuesday.
Eight to one funding and spending advantage, most of the funds from out of state.
And the state with the proudest progressive history in the country joins the chilling march toward corporatocracy.
If this is democracy, I am a rocket scientist. God help us all.
Robocalls to voters informing them they did not have to vote if they signed the recall petitions.
Robocalls to voters informing them the election was Wednesday, not Tuesday.
Eight to one funding and spending advantage, most of the funds from out of state.
And the state with the proudest progressive history in the country joins the chilling march toward corporatocracy.
If this is democracy, I am a rocket scientist. God help us all.
Monday, May 14, 2012
The United States as Super Nova?
Was the brilliant attempt at freedom and justice for all that we called the United States just another brief flash in the pan of human history? Will our children's children even know there was a time...
When common people earned a better than "living" wage that gave them respite from the constant challenge of housing, clothing and feeding themselves and their offspring?
When regular folk, freed from the restraint of constant hunger and deprivation, created a culture of innovation and self realization until the very sky did not appear to be the limit?
When a day's hard labor earned a fair day's wage?
When people banded together in times of tragedy and catastrophe not to prey upon each other but to bind each other's wounds?
When individuals could influence events and advance policy?
When the humblest citizen could obtain a world-class education?
When those who had worked hard and conscientiously all their lives could rest on the fruits of their labors once advancing years robbed them of the strength to continue laboring?
Perhaps some distant echo of those times will endure in a fragile oral history once the "official" chronicles have erased them, denying their very existence.
Was this ever a perfect society? Far from it. But it strove toward greater goals and might have achieved something far more sublime had it not been short-circuited by the veniality of those it trusted to guide and protect them.
When common people earned a better than "living" wage that gave them respite from the constant challenge of housing, clothing and feeding themselves and their offspring?
When regular folk, freed from the restraint of constant hunger and deprivation, created a culture of innovation and self realization until the very sky did not appear to be the limit?
When a day's hard labor earned a fair day's wage?
When people banded together in times of tragedy and catastrophe not to prey upon each other but to bind each other's wounds?
When individuals could influence events and advance policy?
When the humblest citizen could obtain a world-class education?
When those who had worked hard and conscientiously all their lives could rest on the fruits of their labors once advancing years robbed them of the strength to continue laboring?
Perhaps some distant echo of those times will endure in a fragile oral history once the "official" chronicles have erased them, denying their very existence.
Was this ever a perfect society? Far from it. But it strove toward greater goals and might have achieved something far more sublime had it not been short-circuited by the veniality of those it trusted to guide and protect them.
Monday, April 30, 2012
Mad Cow Disease is no big deal? That is just wrong.
Last week a case of Mad Cow Disease was accidentally discovered in the U. S. No big deal, right?
Not according to this Mother Jones article: http://www.motherjones.com/tom-philpott/2012/04/mad-cow-california
U. S. Department of Agriculture claims that the discovery proves the effectiveness of U. S. screening methods appears disingenuous. The discovery, in the face of the absolutely minuscule number of tests administered, was more accidental that fortuitous.
According to the Mother Jones article, not even sick cattle are rigorously tested. And there does not seem to be any intention of increasing the testing in the face of proof Mad Cow Disease is infecting American herds.
Industrial agriculture trumps regulation again. This cannot possibly be a good thing.
Not according to this Mother Jones article: http://www.motherjones.com/tom-philpott/2012/04/mad-cow-california
U. S. Department of Agriculture claims that the discovery proves the effectiveness of U. S. screening methods appears disingenuous. The discovery, in the face of the absolutely minuscule number of tests administered, was more accidental that fortuitous.
According to the Mother Jones article, not even sick cattle are rigorously tested. And there does not seem to be any intention of increasing the testing in the face of proof Mad Cow Disease is infecting American herds.
Industrial agriculture trumps regulation again. This cannot possibly be a good thing.
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Paper, plastic or cloth
Lots of suggestions online today on how individuals can do their part to preserve our planet.
Reduce/eliminate consumption of plastic bags. Take shorter showers and don't leave the water running while brushing teeth. Turn the old thermostat down during the winter and up during the summer.
These suggestions are not bad ideas. None of them seem to apply to what our institutions could/should be doing.
Stop mountaintop removal and the conversion of pure mountain springs into gobs of poisonous slurry.
Apply conscientious safety precautions to avoid turning vast swathes of the Gulf of Mexico into a tar pit.
Stop industrial agriculture's poisoning of waterways and acceleration of soil erosion.
Stop polluting the air we breath with toxic emissions.
Beef up enforcement against the slip shod maintenance of aging nuclear power plants.
Apply effective disciplinary measures, including charter suspension or removal, against corporate bad actors.
Abandon corporate welfare for big energy companies and initiate substantive support for the development of green power industries.
Admittedly just a beginning. But hey, we have to start somewhere.
Reduce/eliminate consumption of plastic bags. Take shorter showers and don't leave the water running while brushing teeth. Turn the old thermostat down during the winter and up during the summer.
These suggestions are not bad ideas. None of them seem to apply to what our institutions could/should be doing.
Stop mountaintop removal and the conversion of pure mountain springs into gobs of poisonous slurry.
Apply conscientious safety precautions to avoid turning vast swathes of the Gulf of Mexico into a tar pit.
Stop industrial agriculture's poisoning of waterways and acceleration of soil erosion.
Stop polluting the air we breath with toxic emissions.
Beef up enforcement against the slip shod maintenance of aging nuclear power plants.
Apply effective disciplinary measures, including charter suspension or removal, against corporate bad actors.
Abandon corporate welfare for big energy companies and initiate substantive support for the development of green power industries.
Admittedly just a beginning. But hey, we have to start somewhere.
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Blame the Old Folks - Part 2
I recently posted on Facebook that I have been blessed with having many incredible senior citizens in my life.
A grandmother and grandmother-in-law who both lived to be 99. Parents-in-law that lived to 89. A close friend who died at 87. Another dear friend who is 89. An uncle who lived to be 83 against incredible odds and who clung vehemently to his "liberal Democratic" values to the end. An aunt who is 92 and failing now, but whose entire adult life, like her older sister, my Mom who will be 97 in May and is still going strong, was devoted to civil rights, environmental activism and intellectual pursuits.
Another aunt, 83, who until she finally succumbed to the numbing mental stagnation of Altzeimers two and a half years ago, was the life of every party she ever attended, a source of joy and fun to everyone who crossed her path. And my very special aunt, the baby of her siblings at 81 whose career has included time being a Carmelite Nun, an elementary school teacher, a caretaker for her mother and later her handicapped brother, and who never in her life has left a debt unpaid or an opportunity to help others unchosen.
These wonderful people have NEVER dragged down our society. They have all helped make it great! Hard working as long as they worked (my 89 year old mother-in-law until two days before she died). Voters in every election for candidates they believed WERE BEST FOR THE COUNTRY. That's right. Not for any personal agenda they had - for the good of the country they loved.
Collectors of Social Security and Medicare? Those that qualified, yes. Some, as public servants, did not qualify. Some contributed to the Social Security System from its very beginning. And it enabled some of them to live independent, dignified lives to the end of their lives.
Where did the idea come from that our elderly citizens drag our country down? Nothing could be further from the truth. Most of them played a major role in building it up!
Are the Old Folks I personally know the exceptions? Hard to swallow that when so many of them have given so much so consistently for so long.
Just saying.
A grandmother and grandmother-in-law who both lived to be 99. Parents-in-law that lived to 89. A close friend who died at 87. Another dear friend who is 89. An uncle who lived to be 83 against incredible odds and who clung vehemently to his "liberal Democratic" values to the end. An aunt who is 92 and failing now, but whose entire adult life, like her older sister, my Mom who will be 97 in May and is still going strong, was devoted to civil rights, environmental activism and intellectual pursuits.
Another aunt, 83, who until she finally succumbed to the numbing mental stagnation of Altzeimers two and a half years ago, was the life of every party she ever attended, a source of joy and fun to everyone who crossed her path. And my very special aunt, the baby of her siblings at 81 whose career has included time being a Carmelite Nun, an elementary school teacher, a caretaker for her mother and later her handicapped brother, and who never in her life has left a debt unpaid or an opportunity to help others unchosen.
These wonderful people have NEVER dragged down our society. They have all helped make it great! Hard working as long as they worked (my 89 year old mother-in-law until two days before she died). Voters in every election for candidates they believed WERE BEST FOR THE COUNTRY. That's right. Not for any personal agenda they had - for the good of the country they loved.
Collectors of Social Security and Medicare? Those that qualified, yes. Some, as public servants, did not qualify. Some contributed to the Social Security System from its very beginning. And it enabled some of them to live independent, dignified lives to the end of their lives.
Where did the idea come from that our elderly citizens drag our country down? Nothing could be further from the truth. Most of them played a major role in building it up!
Are the Old Folks I personally know the exceptions? Hard to swallow that when so many of them have given so much so consistently for so long.
Just saying.
Blame the Old Folks - Part 1
As I ramble around the Internet looking for interesting or important news, I frequently run across commentary condemning the United States' aging population for ultra conservatism, dragging down the system with demands it cater to their needs, voting against the interest of the general population.
It occurs to me this is just one more example of an ongoing practice of the "powers that be" to divide and fragment our social fabric. Hate the old people for demanding Social Security and Medicare. Hate the unions for demanding a living wage and decent working conditions. Hate the Democrats for creating a "nanny" state. Hate the Republicans for ravaging civil liberties and creating a welfare state for the one percent. Hate the Blacks for being violent. Hate the Hispanics for being illegal. Hate the Catholics for imposing their morality on the rest of the populace. Hate the atheists for being ungodly. Hate the born-again Christians for being too godly. Hate the tea partiers for being racist. Hate the Occupy Wall Streeters for being noisy and messy. Hate the young for being unruly.
How is this working for me? Not so much.
It occurs to me this is just one more example of an ongoing practice of the "powers that be" to divide and fragment our social fabric. Hate the old people for demanding Social Security and Medicare. Hate the unions for demanding a living wage and decent working conditions. Hate the Democrats for creating a "nanny" state. Hate the Republicans for ravaging civil liberties and creating a welfare state for the one percent. Hate the Blacks for being violent. Hate the Hispanics for being illegal. Hate the Catholics for imposing their morality on the rest of the populace. Hate the atheists for being ungodly. Hate the born-again Christians for being too godly. Hate the tea partiers for being racist. Hate the Occupy Wall Streeters for being noisy and messy. Hate the young for being unruly.
How is this working for me? Not so much.
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Health Care at Risk
Will the same Supreme Court that gave us Citizens' United and decided the 2000 Presidential election overthrow the Universal Health Care Act? It is beginning to look like it might.
The argument is that citizens cannot be forced to buy a product. But we already are forced to buy car insurance if we drive. Businesses must buy unemployment, disability and workers compensation insurance. Businesses and individuals must pay into social security and medicare insurance.
Don't get me wrong. I was not a big fan of the Health Care Act. I wanted a single-payer system and did not believe that control of our access to health care belonged in the private sector. But after roughly a century of attempting to pass health care legislation, Medicaid, Medicare and the Health Care Act were all this country could achieve. Is it really a good idea to discard it and return to the bad old days when insurance companies could pick and choose who they insured and for how long?
Unless hospitals and emergency rooms actually begin denying care to the uninsured, we will continue to pay for that health care. We will pay through higher health care costs to those who can afford it and higher insurance premiums for everyone who is willing to pay for insurance and can manage to afford it.
Are we willing to stand by as accident victims are left at the curb? As the grievously ill are turned away? As those carrying contagious diseases are left untreated? If the Court decides it is every man, woman and child for themselves, we will be faced with bitter costs indeed - costs that will be assessed on our quality of life and the stability of our social conventions and public institutions and our increased victimization by private insurers and big pharma.
Shoot, maybe the Court will declare Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid unconstitutional too while they are at it.
The argument is that citizens cannot be forced to buy a product. But we already are forced to buy car insurance if we drive. Businesses must buy unemployment, disability and workers compensation insurance. Businesses and individuals must pay into social security and medicare insurance.
Don't get me wrong. I was not a big fan of the Health Care Act. I wanted a single-payer system and did not believe that control of our access to health care belonged in the private sector. But after roughly a century of attempting to pass health care legislation, Medicaid, Medicare and the Health Care Act were all this country could achieve. Is it really a good idea to discard it and return to the bad old days when insurance companies could pick and choose who they insured and for how long?
Unless hospitals and emergency rooms actually begin denying care to the uninsured, we will continue to pay for that health care. We will pay through higher health care costs to those who can afford it and higher insurance premiums for everyone who is willing to pay for insurance and can manage to afford it.
Are we willing to stand by as accident victims are left at the curb? As the grievously ill are turned away? As those carrying contagious diseases are left untreated? If the Court decides it is every man, woman and child for themselves, we will be faced with bitter costs indeed - costs that will be assessed on our quality of life and the stability of our social conventions and public institutions and our increased victimization by private insurers and big pharma.
Shoot, maybe the Court will declare Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid unconstitutional too while they are at it.
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
IMO Lee - The Playing Field is NOT Even
Lee (1945-2005)
New York State
In the 1980’s he received a lump sum settlement for injuries he sustained in an accident. He used part of the proceeds for a down payment on a house on the street where I live. His house was the second on our 2-block street to be owned by a black family. I first became aware of Lee during my walks. I frequently came across him doing yard work for my neighbors and we started to exchange polite hellos in passing.
One day, I asked him if he was interested in caring for my yard. I wanted to give my husband of a summer free from yard chores as an anniversary gift. From that time, until the winter before he died, he took charge of our yard. Lee loved tending gardens and soon convinced me to plant a couple of trees and put in more flowers. Sometimes he hired someone to work with him. Lee and another (white) neighbor divided the care of about 80 percent of the houses on my block. Since I worked from home in those days, Lee and I gradually became friends through our chats on the days he did my lawn.
I can still hear his voice calling “Hey, Mare…” as he came around the back of the house (where I had my office) to remind me of some task that required doing or to ask if I had any extra jobs. Lee worked constantly at a multitude of different jobs. In the winter he did snow removal, in the spring, summer and fall, yard work, basement and attic cleanup, air conditioner installation and removal. He also regularly worked out at the local gym, where he was something of a legend for his prowess at weight lifting.
In May 2002 he and his crew moved my office from my house to downtown office space. He would sometimes drop by the new office to chat with me and my assistant.
When Lee bought his house, he took out a mortgage with a local bank. The bank sold his mortgage. During the 1990’s after property values in our neighborhood rose sharply, the mortgage company raised his interest rates and began charging heavy fees and penalties. It was only through the help of a good lawyer and the woman who loved him that Lee was able to pay off the mortgage and have the excess charges dropped. He came very close to losing his home. If the strange investment vehicles that have been developed since that time had been in existence, he probably would have lost his home, because the vehicles (like credit default swaps) are virtually impossible to unravel.
To this day I believe (1) the bank sold his mortgage because he was an uneducated black man; (2) the new mortgage company deliberately tried to foreclose on him and thought he was an easy target. My mortgage was with the same bank and until the day I paid it off, I was able to make my payments directly to the bank. Once Lee’s mortgage was sold, the place where he was supposed to send payments was changed several times and he confided to me that he received notice of the changes late and was given very little time in which to get his payments to them. Since credit card companies frequently use the tactic of shortening the grace period in order to collect exorbitant late fees and higher interest rates, I believed him. Additionally, time and again I saw evidence of his honesty.
When I hear of the obstacles people face trying to get their mortgages refinanced; paying escalating interest rates; balloon payments on loans they did not understand; inability to locate the current holder of the mortgage note, I think of what happened to Lee. This is part of the reason what has transpired in the financial industry over the past several years angers me. Money does not buy happiness. I know that. But I have yet to figure a way that folks can put a roof over their heads, food on their table, light and heat in their houses and clothes on their backs without it. And for the unwary, indebtedness is a form of involuntary servitude.
Every spring when the hyacinth and tulips bloom in my front yard, I see his face and believe that somewhere he is tending a beautiful flower garden under a bright but gentle sun. Lee was a friend of mine.
July 30, 2009
Lee was one of 19 children born to couple of sharecroppers in the Deep South. Twice as a young man he ran away. Twice the landowner had the sheriff bring him back in chains. Lee told me this story, informing me that into the 1960’s slavery still effectively existed in this country, but it had a different name – debt. The sharecroppers were tied to the land they worked by debts owed to the landowners for the shelter, food and seed they were forced to purchase from them.
Lee’s third attempt to escape was successful. He made his way to In the 1980’s he received a lump sum settlement for injuries he sustained in an accident. He used part of the proceeds for a down payment on a house on the street where I live. His house was the second on our 2-block street to be owned by a black family. I first became aware of Lee during my walks. I frequently came across him doing yard work for my neighbors and we started to exchange polite hellos in passing.
One day, I asked him if he was interested in caring for my yard. I wanted to give my husband of a summer free from yard chores as an anniversary gift. From that time, until the winter before he died, he took charge of our yard. Lee loved tending gardens and soon convinced me to plant a couple of trees and put in more flowers. Sometimes he hired someone to work with him. Lee and another (white) neighbor divided the care of about 80 percent of the houses on my block. Since I worked from home in those days, Lee and I gradually became friends through our chats on the days he did my lawn.
I can still hear his voice calling “Hey, Mare…” as he came around the back of the house (where I had my office) to remind me of some task that required doing or to ask if I had any extra jobs. Lee worked constantly at a multitude of different jobs. In the winter he did snow removal, in the spring, summer and fall, yard work, basement and attic cleanup, air conditioner installation and removal. He also regularly worked out at the local gym, where he was something of a legend for his prowess at weight lifting.
In May 2002 he and his crew moved my office from my house to downtown office space. He would sometimes drop by the new office to chat with me and my assistant.
When Lee bought his house, he took out a mortgage with a local bank. The bank sold his mortgage. During the 1990’s after property values in our neighborhood rose sharply, the mortgage company raised his interest rates and began charging heavy fees and penalties. It was only through the help of a good lawyer and the woman who loved him that Lee was able to pay off the mortgage and have the excess charges dropped. He came very close to losing his home. If the strange investment vehicles that have been developed since that time had been in existence, he probably would have lost his home, because the vehicles (like credit default swaps) are virtually impossible to unravel.
To this day I believe (1) the bank sold his mortgage because he was an uneducated black man; (2) the new mortgage company deliberately tried to foreclose on him and thought he was an easy target. My mortgage was with the same bank and until the day I paid it off, I was able to make my payments directly to the bank. Once Lee’s mortgage was sold, the place where he was supposed to send payments was changed several times and he confided to me that he received notice of the changes late and was given very little time in which to get his payments to them. Since credit card companies frequently use the tactic of shortening the grace period in order to collect exorbitant late fees and higher interest rates, I believed him. Additionally, time and again I saw evidence of his honesty.
When I hear of the obstacles people face trying to get their mortgages refinanced; paying escalating interest rates; balloon payments on loans they did not understand; inability to locate the current holder of the mortgage note, I think of what happened to Lee. This is part of the reason what has transpired in the financial industry over the past several years angers me. Money does not buy happiness. I know that. But I have yet to figure a way that folks can put a roof over their heads, food on their table, light and heat in their houses and clothes on their backs without it. And for the unwary, indebtedness is a form of involuntary servitude.
Every spring when the hyacinth and tulips bloom in my front yard, I see his face and believe that somewhere he is tending a beautiful flower garden under a bright but gentle sun. Lee was a friend of mine.
July 30, 2009
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Atheists in Foxholes
The first atheist I ever personally met was my husband's grandmother. Her daughter was not an atheist. Her grandsons were not and neither was her son-in-law. I remember my future husband mentioning in passing that his grandmother was a nonbeliever. He mentioned it in passing, flushing out his description of a person whom he loved and admired.
She was a tough lady. In 1939 she faced down the Nazis who attempted to block her emigration to America with her 15 year old daughter. She was a woman of enormous charm who had no illusions whatsoever about her fellow humans. She loved her daughter possessively and her grandsons devotedly. She was a dynamite bridge player, skilled at needlecraft and lived to work rather than working to live. She dined on steak and salad and drank Napoleon brandy straight-up.
I remember well how she detested growing old and crippled with arthritis. When her younger sister died in her mid-seventies, she declared her sister "had all the luck." Unable to give up or give in, she hated being OLD.
She did not bring up the subject of her unbelief or atheism unless you asked her. If you did, her answer was simple and straight-forward - I do not believe in God - period - end of discussion. No hint or suggestion you should emulate her. No attempts to proselytize her disbelief. Just a simple statement of fact - she did not believe in God.
I have never been in a foxhole and have no idea if atheists have existed there or not. But I did know one interesting, witty, non-conforming woman who remained an atheist through the holocaust, her years of struggle and success in post World War II United States and a brave and painful old age that ended just shy of her 100th birthday.
She was one of the two most interesting people I have known in my life (the other is my own mother). Somehow I do not feel the need to say RIP (she died in 1991). She lived and died an atheist - no fanfare about it - just a simple statement of unbelief.
She was a tough lady. In 1939 she faced down the Nazis who attempted to block her emigration to America with her 15 year old daughter. She was a woman of enormous charm who had no illusions whatsoever about her fellow humans. She loved her daughter possessively and her grandsons devotedly. She was a dynamite bridge player, skilled at needlecraft and lived to work rather than working to live. She dined on steak and salad and drank Napoleon brandy straight-up.
I remember well how she detested growing old and crippled with arthritis. When her younger sister died in her mid-seventies, she declared her sister "had all the luck." Unable to give up or give in, she hated being OLD.
She did not bring up the subject of her unbelief or atheism unless you asked her. If you did, her answer was simple and straight-forward - I do not believe in God - period - end of discussion. No hint or suggestion you should emulate her. No attempts to proselytize her disbelief. Just a simple statement of fact - she did not believe in God.
I have never been in a foxhole and have no idea if atheists have existed there or not. But I did know one interesting, witty, non-conforming woman who remained an atheist through the holocaust, her years of struggle and success in post World War II United States and a brave and painful old age that ended just shy of her 100th birthday.
She was one of the two most interesting people I have known in my life (the other is my own mother). Somehow I do not feel the need to say RIP (she died in 1991). She lived and died an atheist - no fanfare about it - just a simple statement of unbelief.
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Leave Disaster Relief to the Professionals?
The tide of volunteers rushing to assist victims of the recent tornadoes evidently is complicating operations for professional disaster relief organizations and Homeland Security.
http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/05/10585734-disaster-volunteers-please-curb-your-enthusiasm
The linked article makes it clear only trained rescue workers who are registered are welcome. Understandable to some extent. There are downed power lines, leaking gas lines and other hazards. Unauthorized, unorganized visitors can hamper efforts to deal with them.
Setting up locations that provide clearinghouses and registration of incoming volunteers makes sense as long as the process does not become more important than the mission. It is hard not to remember the aftermaths of Katrina and Haiti where trained volunteers were turned away and government agencies and the large nonprofits appeared more interested in protecting their turf than using any means possible to deal with staggering calamities.
I am not completely convinced that a "leave it to the grownups" approach is productive. People helping people, banding together in joint efforts during times of struggle and disaster, is a survival skill - and one we lose at our own peril.
http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/05/10585734-disaster-volunteers-please-curb-your-enthusiasm
The linked article makes it clear only trained rescue workers who are registered are welcome. Understandable to some extent. There are downed power lines, leaking gas lines and other hazards. Unauthorized, unorganized visitors can hamper efforts to deal with them.
Setting up locations that provide clearinghouses and registration of incoming volunteers makes sense as long as the process does not become more important than the mission. It is hard not to remember the aftermaths of Katrina and Haiti where trained volunteers were turned away and government agencies and the large nonprofits appeared more interested in protecting their turf than using any means possible to deal with staggering calamities.
I am not completely convinced that a "leave it to the grownups" approach is productive. People helping people, banding together in joint efforts during times of struggle and disaster, is a survival skill - and one we lose at our own peril.
Friday, March 2, 2012
Rush Limbaugh is full of organic fertilizer
He ridicules women who want contraceptives covered by their health plans, suggesting they "hold an aspirin between their knees."
He suggests they should post tapes of their sexual encounters online.
He refers to them as sluts and prostitutes.
Only one conclusion occurs to me. Rush Limbaugh is full of organic (avian, bovine or equine, take your pick) fertilizer.
As the mother of two long since grown and married daughters, I can still remember how important it was to me that they be informed and comfortable about contraception options both before and after their marriages. Bringing an unplanned, unwanted child into an overpopulated world is not a responsible act. Yes there are women and girls barely out of childhood who chose to do this when faced with the "oops" of an unplanned pregnancy. Some small minority of them (one person in particular comes to mind) end up doing a great job raising their child. Many, many more make a sad hash of it.
Teenagers and unmarried young adults will be sexually active. Of course they will. To think otherwise is to live in an alternative universe. Depriving them of the tools that enable them to prevent pregnancy fails them personally and fails society.
Traditionally it is the female that pays the price for unwanted pregnancies. Misogynistic pundits like Rush Limbaugh do not deserve and should not have a voice in the matter.
Rush Limbaugh and his ilk are full of organic fertilizer.
He suggests they should post tapes of their sexual encounters online.
He refers to them as sluts and prostitutes.
Only one conclusion occurs to me. Rush Limbaugh is full of organic (avian, bovine or equine, take your pick) fertilizer.
As the mother of two long since grown and married daughters, I can still remember how important it was to me that they be informed and comfortable about contraception options both before and after their marriages. Bringing an unplanned, unwanted child into an overpopulated world is not a responsible act. Yes there are women and girls barely out of childhood who chose to do this when faced with the "oops" of an unplanned pregnancy. Some small minority of them (one person in particular comes to mind) end up doing a great job raising their child. Many, many more make a sad hash of it.
Teenagers and unmarried young adults will be sexually active. Of course they will. To think otherwise is to live in an alternative universe. Depriving them of the tools that enable them to prevent pregnancy fails them personally and fails society.
Traditionally it is the female that pays the price for unwanted pregnancies. Misogynistic pundits like Rush Limbaugh do not deserve and should not have a voice in the matter.
Rush Limbaugh and his ilk are full of organic fertilizer.
Monday, February 20, 2012
It's Discouraging
Lately, I haven't had the heart to write about the issues that concern me.
Except for Ron Paul, who hasn't a snowball's chance in hell of being nominated, the Republican candidates continue to focus on the minutia and ignore the staggering challenges our country and our world face.
Access to birth control, a battle I thought convincingly won over 50 years ago has somehow morphed into a religious issue? What kind of b-s is that?
Popular reaction thwarted the passage of SOPA and a dozen bills sprang up to replace it, some of them far worse.
Congresspersons continue carte blanche insider trading despite the "so-called reform" they passed. Seems like Nancy Pelosi and Eric Canter actually have been "comrades in arms" all this time, despite their partisan press releases.
Hundreds of thousands of Occupy demonstrators failed to make the slightest dent in the rhetoric of Washington's lawmakers. The 1 percent will probably shrink to an even more powerful .5 percent. Billionaires are funding our national elections and writing their own tickets into the future.
The Federal Justice system under the Obama administration has cracked down on medical marijuana, protected Wall Street and militarized the nation's police forces.
Hints of an upcoming war with Iran permeate online media.
Hydrofracking appears on the fast track in my home state of New York.
No, I haven't had much heart for writing this blog lately (sigh).
Except for Ron Paul, who hasn't a snowball's chance in hell of being nominated, the Republican candidates continue to focus on the minutia and ignore the staggering challenges our country and our world face.
Access to birth control, a battle I thought convincingly won over 50 years ago has somehow morphed into a religious issue? What kind of b-s is that?
Popular reaction thwarted the passage of SOPA and a dozen bills sprang up to replace it, some of them far worse.
Congresspersons continue carte blanche insider trading despite the "so-called reform" they passed. Seems like Nancy Pelosi and Eric Canter actually have been "comrades in arms" all this time, despite their partisan press releases.
Hundreds of thousands of Occupy demonstrators failed to make the slightest dent in the rhetoric of Washington's lawmakers. The 1 percent will probably shrink to an even more powerful .5 percent. Billionaires are funding our national elections and writing their own tickets into the future.
The Federal Justice system under the Obama administration has cracked down on medical marijuana, protected Wall Street and militarized the nation's police forces.
Hints of an upcoming war with Iran permeate online media.
Hydrofracking appears on the fast track in my home state of New York.
No, I haven't had much heart for writing this blog lately (sigh).
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Globalization and the Environment
"We are in the age of globalization." It is the new paradigm. Global trade, global communication, global culture, global threats and global rewards, global environmental crisis.
Our planet's population is soaring. That population's demands on the global environment are exponentially expanding.
The hideous debris swept to sea by last Spring's tsunami in Japan is heading toward the Americas. The radiation emitted by the nuclear disaster caused by that tsunami probably hit our shores months ago. Workers toil under slavish conditions in China, India and other developing countries to supply North America and other "first world" nations with the wonders designed by Apple Computer, Microsoft and a myriad of other multinational corporations.
The ancient mountains and rich habitats of West Virginia and Kentucky are crushed into oblivion to feed our nation's hunger for cheap energy. The water supplies of continents are sacrificed to agribusiness, energy development and industrial waste to feed, shelter and indulge the hungry consumers of nations rich and poor.
Wars are waged to procure declining supplies of oil. Wars are waged to procure productive land and valuable mineral resources. Melting icecaps raise ocean levels and swamp low-lying land masses, displacing their occupants. Carbon emissions from every country on the globe spew into the already saturated atmosphere. Free market capitalism, the one true religion of the twenty-first century, demands ever increasing levels of consumption of the planet's finite resources for throw-away products that clog landfills and create continental-sized oceanic dead zones.
It's every country and man for himself out there as the human race rushes toward its terrifying confrontation with the inevitable results of debasing its environment on a global scale.
If we must have globalization, surely global regulation in our specie's self interest might be a good idea? Screw nationalistic jingoism if the price is survival.
Our planet's population is soaring. That population's demands on the global environment are exponentially expanding.
The hideous debris swept to sea by last Spring's tsunami in Japan is heading toward the Americas. The radiation emitted by the nuclear disaster caused by that tsunami probably hit our shores months ago. Workers toil under slavish conditions in China, India and other developing countries to supply North America and other "first world" nations with the wonders designed by Apple Computer, Microsoft and a myriad of other multinational corporations.
The ancient mountains and rich habitats of West Virginia and Kentucky are crushed into oblivion to feed our nation's hunger for cheap energy. The water supplies of continents are sacrificed to agribusiness, energy development and industrial waste to feed, shelter and indulge the hungry consumers of nations rich and poor.
Wars are waged to procure declining supplies of oil. Wars are waged to procure productive land and valuable mineral resources. Melting icecaps raise ocean levels and swamp low-lying land masses, displacing their occupants. Carbon emissions from every country on the globe spew into the already saturated atmosphere. Free market capitalism, the one true religion of the twenty-first century, demands ever increasing levels of consumption of the planet's finite resources for throw-away products that clog landfills and create continental-sized oceanic dead zones.
It's every country and man for himself out there as the human race rushes toward its terrifying confrontation with the inevitable results of debasing its environment on a global scale.
If we must have globalization, surely global regulation in our specie's self interest might be a good idea? Screw nationalistic jingoism if the price is survival.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
What does "Classified" Mean, Really?
There are two very cogent reasons for classifying documents. The first, and official one, is to protect our national security. The second, unstated one, is to conceal the crimes committed by our government officials and employees.
I just read the following Washington Post article about the government's prosecution of the whistle blower who blew the top of the Guantanamo water boarding scandal.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/former-cia-officer-charged-in-leaks/2012/01/23/gIQA3AhTLQ_story.html
The prosecution of John Kiriakou indicates our government makes no distinction between the official and the unofficial reasons for classification in its regard for the seriousness of the crime of publishing classified material.
Kiriakou's crime was releasing "classified" government information. Very bad. Much worse than the criminal behavior by government officials that was revealed.
The individuals who ordered or committed the torture are not prosecuted. Those who revealed it are.
The phrase "national security" is such a useful umbrella.
I just read the following Washington Post article about the government's prosecution of the whistle blower who blew the top of the Guantanamo water boarding scandal.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/former-cia-officer-charged-in-leaks/2012/01/23/gIQA3AhTLQ_story.html
The prosecution of John Kiriakou indicates our government makes no distinction between the official and the unofficial reasons for classification in its regard for the seriousness of the crime of publishing classified material.
Kiriakou's crime was releasing "classified" government information. Very bad. Much worse than the criminal behavior by government officials that was revealed.
The individuals who ordered or committed the torture are not prosecuted. Those who revealed it are.
The phrase "national security" is such a useful umbrella.
Monday, January 23, 2012
Constitutional Amendment Against Citizens' United?
While comedian/satirists Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart use a SuperPac to demonstrate the dangerous and absurd levels of political skulduggery permitted by the Supreme Court's Citizens' United decision, growing voices are heard urging a Constitutional amendment to negate the Court's decision.
Proponents are urging passage of an amendment that decrees only people are people with rights under the Constitution. Ah, and this will fix our system? A system in which power speaks to power and money creates power?
Even if such an amendment could survive the arduous ratification process, its power to alter the influence of money on American government is questionable. We already have amendments that guarantee freedom of peaceful assembly (ask the Occupy Wall Street demonstrators how well that works), freedom of speech (unless you are exchanging information and files over the Internet), freedom from unlawful search and seizure (unless you choose to travel by air or Homeland Security suspects you're a terrorist).
Other protected rights that are now routinely ignored include the right to face your accuser in a court of law; the right to a trial by a jury of your peers, the right not to be detained without formal charges.
Doesn't appear to me Constitutionally protected civil liberties are taken very seriously by our government. Why would one more be any different?
Proponents are urging passage of an amendment that decrees only people are people with rights under the Constitution. Ah, and this will fix our system? A system in which power speaks to power and money creates power?
Even if such an amendment could survive the arduous ratification process, its power to alter the influence of money on American government is questionable. We already have amendments that guarantee freedom of peaceful assembly (ask the Occupy Wall Street demonstrators how well that works), freedom of speech (unless you are exchanging information and files over the Internet), freedom from unlawful search and seizure (unless you choose to travel by air or Homeland Security suspects you're a terrorist).
Other protected rights that are now routinely ignored include the right to face your accuser in a court of law; the right to a trial by a jury of your peers, the right not to be detained without formal charges.
Doesn't appear to me Constitutionally protected civil liberties are taken very seriously by our government. Why would one more be any different?
Saturday, January 21, 2012
While we were celebrating... .
While the online community was celebrating its victory over SOPA and PIPA, the Justice Department struck quickly and lethally at Megauploads, one of the largest file-sharing websites on the planet, proving that it DID NOT NEED SOPA and PIPA to police the Internet pretty much any way it deemed prudent and necessary.
Forget democratic protests. Forget the protests of Google, Reddit, Wikipedia, and a slew of other sites. The Justice Department managed to get arrest warrants executed in foreign countries, web servers shut down, assets confiscated the very next day after the online community convinced U.S. legislators to back off!
What is that about? Pretty much the same thing as the indefinite detention permitted in recent legislation that Obama signed with a signing statement that he "would not pursue it."
Question. If it is the executive branch's job to enforce the laws, and the President of the United States is the "boss" of the executive branch, how the hell is the Justice Department determining the means of enforcement rather than the Oval Office? Just where is the tail that is wagging the dog and how, tell me how, can that tail be cut off?
You might want to check out the CSM article linked below.
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2012/0121/If-feds-can-bust-Megaupload-why-bother-with-anti-piracy-bills
Forget democratic protests. Forget the protests of Google, Reddit, Wikipedia, and a slew of other sites. The Justice Department managed to get arrest warrants executed in foreign countries, web servers shut down, assets confiscated the very next day after the online community convinced U.S. legislators to back off!
What is that about? Pretty much the same thing as the indefinite detention permitted in recent legislation that Obama signed with a signing statement that he "would not pursue it."
Question. If it is the executive branch's job to enforce the laws, and the President of the United States is the "boss" of the executive branch, how the hell is the Justice Department determining the means of enforcement rather than the Oval Office? Just where is the tail that is wagging the dog and how, tell me how, can that tail be cut off?
You might want to check out the CSM article linked below.
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2012/0121/If-feds-can-bust-Megaupload-why-bother-with-anti-piracy-bills
Monday, January 16, 2012
Where is the Discussion on the Environment?
Why are none of the pundits or candidates discussing the dangers facing the global environment? Have the problems of global climate change, resource depletion, evaporating food and water supplies, debasement of huge swaths of our planet's surface disappeared?
While the corporate hegemony focuses on the expanding economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China (the BRIC countries), has the challenge of meeting the inevitably surging consumer demands that result from this economic expansion been solved? Has it become possible that all countries now can share in the lavish lifestyle of first world countries without endangering the already threatened ecosystem of Mother Earth?
While glaciers melt, sea levels rise, depleting fossil fuel sources open gaping holes in the ozone layer, and human population continues to grow, perhaps our species is not really accelerating its rush to extinction?
Surely if this were not the case, environmental issues would lead political and public discussion, not be largely ignored by it?
While the corporate hegemony focuses on the expanding economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China (the BRIC countries), has the challenge of meeting the inevitably surging consumer demands that result from this economic expansion been solved? Has it become possible that all countries now can share in the lavish lifestyle of first world countries without endangering the already threatened ecosystem of Mother Earth?
While glaciers melt, sea levels rise, depleting fossil fuel sources open gaping holes in the ozone layer, and human population continues to grow, perhaps our species is not really accelerating its rush to extinction?
Surely if this were not the case, environmental issues would lead political and public discussion, not be largely ignored by it?
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Caveat Emptor Ekornes?
Roughly 11 years ago my husband and I visited Stickley Furniture in Albany. I can't even remember what we were shopping for. We sat down side-by-side in two identical chairs to rest our bones and a 10 year love affair began. After a minute or so we looked at each other and said, "these chairs are REALLY comfortable." We ended up buying two of them before we even knew they were Ekornes Stressless Loungers - a ground-breaking ergonomic triumph created by a Norwegian company.
They were expensive. We decided they were our birthday, anniversary and Christmas gifts to each other for the next year and a half and never regretted it. For 10 years we sat in comfort and knew if the hips or back ached a session in "our" chairs would ease the pain. My mother fell in love with the chairs during her visits and 3 years ago I took her up to Albany and she purchased one for herself.
And that is when the story began to change. Within a year, the arm came off her chair. Reattached once. The second time the screws were irretrievable.
Despite Mom's experience, last January Bill and I decided the time had come to replace our chairs. Constant, rough wear had beaten up the leather on his and mine, although less worn, would be replaced so we could have a matching set.
The new chairs were over twice as expensive as the original ones. The store models were not as comfortable and a new sizing system was awkward, but we finally selected two we felt would suit us. I have been missing my old chair since the day a friend took it off my hands and the new ones arrived. The new chair is awkward at the back of my neck, although better than when I first started using it. It is definitely NOT as comfortable as the original Ekornes Stressless Lounger, and both chairs are already showing deterioration of their leather. Despite being far more expensive, the new ones are much lighter (what is that about?).
I Googled to see if other owners were having problems and found some negative comments, but mostly raves. Personally I feel Ekornes has made the same mistake Coca Cola did when they changed their formula back in the 80s. Coca Cola quickly rectified its mistake. It does not appear Ekornes intends to return to its original model - the one that established its reputation for excellence and eased the backs of so many weary customers.
Sad.
They were expensive. We decided they were our birthday, anniversary and Christmas gifts to each other for the next year and a half and never regretted it. For 10 years we sat in comfort and knew if the hips or back ached a session in "our" chairs would ease the pain. My mother fell in love with the chairs during her visits and 3 years ago I took her up to Albany and she purchased one for herself.
And that is when the story began to change. Within a year, the arm came off her chair. Reattached once. The second time the screws were irretrievable.
Despite Mom's experience, last January Bill and I decided the time had come to replace our chairs. Constant, rough wear had beaten up the leather on his and mine, although less worn, would be replaced so we could have a matching set.
The new chairs were over twice as expensive as the original ones. The store models were not as comfortable and a new sizing system was awkward, but we finally selected two we felt would suit us. I have been missing my old chair since the day a friend took it off my hands and the new ones arrived. The new chair is awkward at the back of my neck, although better than when I first started using it. It is definitely NOT as comfortable as the original Ekornes Stressless Lounger, and both chairs are already showing deterioration of their leather. Despite being far more expensive, the new ones are much lighter (what is that about?).
I Googled to see if other owners were having problems and found some negative comments, but mostly raves. Personally I feel Ekornes has made the same mistake Coca Cola did when they changed their formula back in the 80s. Coca Cola quickly rectified its mistake. It does not appear Ekornes intends to return to its original model - the one that established its reputation for excellence and eased the backs of so many weary customers.
Sad.
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
OMG - Where is the Shut-off Valve?!?!
The Romans knew it and so, I believe did the Babylonians. Civilization is NOT possible without good plumbing. Plumbing - the management of water access and waste removal. No modern American home functions without it. But when things go wrong - your life can head south in a hurry.
Today my daughter experienced a leak in the home she and her husband purchased just 2.5 years ago. The main shut-off valve did not stop the flow. WTF?!?! Evidently a separate line with a separate shut-off was laid for the refrigerator and its ice/water mechanism. It took seven hours work by a master plumber to locate the line and shut off valve that was trapped behind sheet rock, stop the water source and fix the leak. The line was illegally (not according to code) installed.
At the end of the ordeal, my daughter was a basket case (she is my daughter, after all), the day had been wasted and the plumber's bill promised to be astronomic and she had a brand new hole in the wall.
Please tell me again why our educational system focuses on the "professional" fields and college educations while the trades are left to scramble?
Shut-off valves are only important when they are urgently needed. It is a VERY good idea to know where they are located and how they work. When it comes to plumbing, sooner or later shit will happen.
Today my daughter experienced a leak in the home she and her husband purchased just 2.5 years ago. The main shut-off valve did not stop the flow. WTF?!?! Evidently a separate line with a separate shut-off was laid for the refrigerator and its ice/water mechanism. It took seven hours work by a master plumber to locate the line and shut off valve that was trapped behind sheet rock, stop the water source and fix the leak. The line was illegally (not according to code) installed.
At the end of the ordeal, my daughter was a basket case (she is my daughter, after all), the day had been wasted and the plumber's bill promised to be astronomic and she had a brand new hole in the wall.
Please tell me again why our educational system focuses on the "professional" fields and college educations while the trades are left to scramble?
Shut-off valves are only important when they are urgently needed. It is a VERY good idea to know where they are located and how they work. When it comes to plumbing, sooner or later shit will happen.
Monday, January 9, 2012
Smokin in the Girls' Room
1964. Senior in high school. Every study hall I asked for a bathroom pass and once there, quickly entered a stall, lit up a Tareyton and smoked a few drags, dropped the butt in the toilet and flushed. Yes, it did flush in those days. Returned to study hall where my neighboring seatmates caught the whiff of tobacco and looked at me with varying degrees of "knowing what you just did" to "how pathetic" and the inevitable goody two shoes "you are soooo disgusting."
Spring 2011 my husband of 44 years, suffering from an absolutely devastating case of the flu, decides to give up his pipe. (He gave up cigarettes 20 years ago.) Fall 2011, my husband starts to make comments about how much the smell of cigarette smoke bothers him. December 2011, in the darkest hours of one night, I hear my husband wheezing as he sleeps. I already have accepted I cannot smoke in the house when my kids, mother or grandchildren visit. Now I have to go out when He is home.
Late December 2011, On nice days and nights, I alternate with trips to the front porch - it's amazing what goes on in the neighborhood after dark. I have not had this many chats with my next door neighbor (who has been smoking outside for over 20 years) in about 20 years! Also a very nice early morning chat with my neighbor on the other side (non-smoker but an early riser who was tinkering with her Christmas decorations). Probably would not otherwise have spotted Orion hit the early evening sky. Saw a spectacular Jupiter give a show in December. Caught two absolutely gorgeous full moons (plus half moon, crescent moons and of course, the dark of the moon).
The downside? During cold, stormy weather, I am once again smokin the the girls' room with the vent on and the door closed.
Spring 2011 my husband of 44 years, suffering from an absolutely devastating case of the flu, decides to give up his pipe. (He gave up cigarettes 20 years ago.) Fall 2011, my husband starts to make comments about how much the smell of cigarette smoke bothers him. December 2011, in the darkest hours of one night, I hear my husband wheezing as he sleeps. I already have accepted I cannot smoke in the house when my kids, mother or grandchildren visit. Now I have to go out when He is home.
Late December 2011, On nice days and nights, I alternate with trips to the front porch - it's amazing what goes on in the neighborhood after dark. I have not had this many chats with my next door neighbor (who has been smoking outside for over 20 years) in about 20 years! Also a very nice early morning chat with my neighbor on the other side (non-smoker but an early riser who was tinkering with her Christmas decorations). Probably would not otherwise have spotted Orion hit the early evening sky. Saw a spectacular Jupiter give a show in December. Caught two absolutely gorgeous full moons (plus half moon, crescent moons and of course, the dark of the moon).
The downside? During cold, stormy weather, I am once again smokin the the girls' room with the vent on and the door closed.
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