So here it is folks. No, I am not "ready" for the holidays. I have not decorated, shopped, planned, addressed cards, or even thought about doing any of the above. I am not excited, and I doubt I will be, except for some friends I will see who live far away, this entire holdiay thing just bugs me. And don't get in my face about it either. It's not that I don't like giving gifts, I just don't like being told what to do, when to do it and how to feel about it. Being forced to spend an entire month getting ready for this "holiday season", it is just too much.
I believe we should live every day giving gifts and being merry. Why limit it to just one day? It's like the people who only go to Temple or Church on the holy days, and the rest of the year ignore the whole "love your brother" thing, especially if he/she is Gay, The President or any number of other targets.
Whatever it is about the "holidays", I just don't get why it has to be forced into this single month. Why not celebrate all year long? Have dinner with friends, make cookies, exchange gifts, be kind. What a concept, living life every day like it was that "special" time of year.
So don't bother to ask me if I have the "holiday spirit", I'll go you one better, my spirit is here all year long. I am not being a "scrooge", I don't begrudge anyone else their "joy" during this time of year, just don't force it on me. I'm happy some days, not happy others, it has nothing to do with holidays, shopping, decorations or the date.
My joy comes from how I choose to live every day. My spirit is filled from my purpose and is itself a celebration. I think it is more miserly to limit this feeling to one time of year, spread peace & joy every day, not according to some date on the calendar.
Monday, December 7, 2009
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Econo-ME: micro-local & sustainable thoughts
As you might guess, I spend a lot of time thinking about the economy, politics and business. I am a certified workaholic. I love what I do and get a real rush from both of my "jobs". As a financial consultant, I have spent years helping other people improve and operate their businesses. At Earth Mart, I get to live my passion. How lucky I am.
As a parent, I have grown and learned more than I thought possible. I learned about unconditional love and abject terror. I never understood either really, not until I became a mother. I think this was also my introduction to true humilty, another trait I was not very familiar. And I really believe this has made me not only a better person, but a better businessperson.
And so I have been thinking not only about the Economy, but my Econo-ME. Taking stock of my own worth, attempting to quantify my indefinable spirit, here is some of what I realized:
I have become more empathetic in my 40's than I thought possible. From my terrible teenage years, to my totally self-centered twenties, on to finally growing up at 30 when I became a mother, and now, these "middle" years, days filled with purpose and success, good friends and lots of great conversations. My own self-worth was never really tied to the opinions of others, and I have found that the more I value my own intellect, the more I have to offer others.
This led me to a powerful realization: if we stop thinking only about the macro-economic issues, about which we may feel powerless to change, and begin to have a discourse on the most basic micro-eonomic theory, ourselves, it might be one of the most powerful shifts in a pardigm we ever experience.
It is time to live the truly examined life, to put our values, our words, our dreams to the test of reality. Whatever it is we want to be, now is the time to get started. We should not be putting off until tomorrow what we truly need to do today. We are each of us a Revolution in the making, but somehow we became convinced that it was more important to watch reality TV and shop at discount stores. If we think about these things in terms of your personal Econo-ME, what do they say about your values? What is your impact on your world, your environment?
This superficial disposable world we have created is like The Matrix, and we can kill it, anytime we want, just by changing our actions. If we want to change something, we have always had the power to do so. When did we forget that? When did complacency and ease become more important than honor & dignity?
As a parent, I have grown and learned more than I thought possible. I learned about unconditional love and abject terror. I never understood either really, not until I became a mother. I think this was also my introduction to true humilty, another trait I was not very familiar. And I really believe this has made me not only a better person, but a better businessperson.
And so I have been thinking not only about the Economy, but my Econo-ME. Taking stock of my own worth, attempting to quantify my indefinable spirit, here is some of what I realized:
I have become more empathetic in my 40's than I thought possible. From my terrible teenage years, to my totally self-centered twenties, on to finally growing up at 30 when I became a mother, and now, these "middle" years, days filled with purpose and success, good friends and lots of great conversations. My own self-worth was never really tied to the opinions of others, and I have found that the more I value my own intellect, the more I have to offer others.
This led me to a powerful realization: if we stop thinking only about the macro-economic issues, about which we may feel powerless to change, and begin to have a discourse on the most basic micro-eonomic theory, ourselves, it might be one of the most powerful shifts in a pardigm we ever experience.
It is time to live the truly examined life, to put our values, our words, our dreams to the test of reality. Whatever it is we want to be, now is the time to get started. We should not be putting off until tomorrow what we truly need to do today. We are each of us a Revolution in the making, but somehow we became convinced that it was more important to watch reality TV and shop at discount stores. If we think about these things in terms of your personal Econo-ME, what do they say about your values? What is your impact on your world, your environment?
This superficial disposable world we have created is like The Matrix, and we can kill it, anytime we want, just by changing our actions. If we want to change something, we have always had the power to do so. When did we forget that? When did complacency and ease become more important than honor & dignity?
Thursday, November 26, 2009
What is Love?
I have been hearing a lot lately about the supposed love affair the liberal media is having with President Obama. And listening to the President speak last night, it made me realize why. Why do we love? What are the attributes we look for in someone we admire? Respect, kindness, thoughtfulness, these are the traits we value in our loved ones.
And can there be any question that President Obama shows these traits? I must admit here that I was not an early supporter of President Obama. I came to admire him by listening to him speak, by listening to the First Lady, by watching them together and with their children and by reading everything I can on his policies, his administration and the stimulus package.
I am not one who believes in love at first site, nor do I give my respect easily, but neither do I give it grudgingly.
Listening to the President speak, I vowed it would be the last time I listened alone. His vision and the scope of his plan awed and shocked me. I wanted someone to hug, someone to smile with, and someone to cry with. I wept openly, allowing the fear and horror I have often felt to wash out of me, and replaced it with hope and faith. Another feeling I do not come by easily.
We are at an important place, and as the President said, when our children look back at this moment, I want my daughter to know that I acted with intention. That in this most important moment, I followed my conscience, my heart, and yes, my intuition.
I will not falter, nor will I turn away from this task. It is at moments like this, that we show our true colors. So the next time someone accuses the media of having a love affair with the President, I will say, so what? Isn’t it about time we had someone we could respect & admire in the White House? And isn’t that what love really is? We have a challenge before us, and a call to action. I hope that when the time comes, I have the courage to act.
Love is scary, love can hurt, but love can also conquer all. And maybe some will say it is inappropriate to speak about love and politics together, but what is love if not faith in someone? And what is politics but belief in something? Maybe it is time we combine the two, have faith we can believe in someone and something.
I have often been accused of loving ideals more than people. And hearing the President speak made me remember why. It is to our highest self we must look to when we love. Because only our best self is worthy or capable of such emotion. We must all learn how to love again, love each other, love our country, love life.
Then our highest self will help us to overcome the petty, nasty, immature spirit that has held us down for too long.
Economic Stimulation or Political Strangulation?
Why was it not patriotic to question President Bush’s decisions but it is okay to denigrate President Obama’s?
How is it possible that the man who has been in the Oval Office for less than 100 days is the architect of the collapse of the economy of the future, but the one who occupied it for the last 8 years bears no responsibility for the present?
I am baffled. What is stimulus and what is spending? How do we define these terms? In this environment, aren’t they the same thing? What exactly is going on here? It seems I have fallen down the rabbit hole with Alice, except Alice doesn’t live here anymore. I heard she had to move into the shelter when the bank foreclosed.
It seems to me that we need to define stimulus before we can have an opinion on what is or is not stimulus. Listening to the news it seems like a moving target. The political semantics going on are enough to make one’s head ache.
And so, I have been wondering a lot about what certain terms mean. For example, economic development. What exactly is that? These two ideas, stimulus and economic development, have been haunting me. I feel that the two are intrinsically connected. That to have stimulus you need economic development. And I wonder, why is it that pundits are saying it is wrong for the President to invest in public works projects, but good for corporations to invest in private projects? Is money only green when given to special interest groups? Are only for profit projects capable of creating economic development? I wonder too, what engine drives the economic force of a Nation? A State? Or even a Borough?
By what means do we grow? I believe we must examine these questions, and look at the President’s stimulus plan and budget with the respect we would give to any visionary project. President Obama is planning for decades, not days. His vision is to secure the future for our children, and we need to question the questions, not the man.
Let us ask why family planning was taken out of the stimulus. Is it not stimulus to offer poor women the means to prevent pregnancy? The Republicans claim that they object to funding abortion, but that is not what these funds were for. They were for education at family planning clinics. If a woman can choose to get education and it helps her decide to not get pregnant and not go on welfare, but to get a job or continue in school, is that not stimulus?
If one person is taught to how to prevent STD’s and avoids becoming ill and needing medical assistance and can live a longer, healthier, more productive life, is that not development?
Who is making these decisions? The very same minds who brought us Just Say No and who refuse to see a connection between education and wealth, or rather lack of education and poverty. And speaking of education, let’s ask why it is wrong to fund repair of our schools? How many jobs will it cost us to NOT repair our schools? How many contractors, plumbers, electricians, painters, landscapers, masons, and all the related fields would have benefited from the creation of these projects? These are the questions we need to ask and answer.
Since the law of the land says that a woman has a right to choose, why did we have to take out the funds for family planning? How can that possibly be right? The Opinion of the few, that these funds were for abortion, something that is legal, and that the government should not fund abortion, despite the funds not being for abortions, somehow is justified? Huh?
And if we really believe that our children’s education is vitally important to our future, how can we not fund repair of our schools? I can hear some of you asking, “Is this a trick question?”. It is if you haven’t thought of it.
Why was it “spending” under Bush, but “pork” under Obama? And since when have Democrats “controlled” Washington? I believe the election in ’06 left Dems with a very slight majority, with Senator Joe Lieberman as the deciding vote. And this is a Senate in democratic “control”? This is political semantics, and I think we need to stop listening to the rhetoric and start finding ways to follow what is really going on.
Welcome to the Age of Irony. A time when to get any “real” news, you have to watch the “fake” news on Comedy Central.
Honestly, I often feel as if I have fallen down that proverbial rabbit hole, except in this story I was insured by AIG, could not collect on my insurance policy, lost my job, had to declare bankruptcy, and ended up homeless when my 401K and money market lost all their value in a game of truth or dare the Bush Administration was playing with Wall Street.
And don’t bother to argue that the blame is with the Democrats. Not this time. This is the goal of “small government”. The Conservative mantra that less regulation is good, and NO regulation even better. The last 8 years have left many of our regulatory agencies broken and dysfunctional. Not that Democrats had no part in the drama, just not the starring role.
Now is the time for us to set goals, to reach for the stars and rise above politics. Sounds lofty and good right?
It would, if we had goals. Or more precisely, if we understood what was or was not stimulus. It is difficult to achieve goals you cannot set because you don’t understand the concept. And if you do not have goals you will never reach them.
So let us together try to define stimulus and economic development. The first goal of both is fostering new growth. We must attract and develop new businesses and invite new ideas. This is true on the national and local level. For our local economy to flourish, we need economic stimulus and development. We need to attract new businesses to Phoenixville just as we need to stimulate growth on the national level, and we need to rebuild our consumer confidence and spending. With me so far?
Following this theory, then, creating jobs is good. Educating workers is good. Having a stable healthy workforce is necessary. If these are the goals, then perhaps we need to fortify our education and healthcare systems. Maybe repairing schools and making health care affordable would help us to achieve the goal of economic stimulus. And maybe, just maybe, family planning would help too. Maybe the way out of a recession is planned spending, or to use the politically correct term - stimulus.
But I have to ask this question, are we really in a recession? I think not. We are not Michigan, Florida, Arizona or California. There have been some layoffs, but not on the same scale as in other states. So I wonder, is it really just a media panic? Most people who work for someone else are still getting their same salary, have the same bills to pay and had little savings to start so that isn’t much different. So what is it? The people being hurt the most by this media hysteria are the local small businesses. Most small businesses rely on weekly cash flows to stay open, and cash is scarce as consumers are too afraid to spend. What came first, the media hype or the recession?
Amazingly enough, big box and discount chains are still doing well. People still need to buy stuff. Unfortunately, shopping at this type of business mainly helps the Chinese economy. We need to get our local economy back on track. Supporting local businesses employs your family and friends. Buy Local. Think Global. We are the change we want to see. We need to continue to find new ways to stimulate our own economic development. And we need to remember, President Obama didn’t make this mess, but given a chance, he may just be able to fix it. Let’s give him the chance. Better yet, let’s give President Obama the same benefit of the doubt we gave the Bush Administration regarding WMD’s in Iraq.
Call your State Representative, Senator, or Congressperson, and ask them questions, then tell them what you think. Come up with your own definitions and goals. Write to your local newspaper and call the local news. Host a party and talk about politics. Economic stimulation must begin with opening your mind, and only you can prevent political strangulation from closing it.
How is it possible that the man who has been in the Oval Office for less than 100 days is the architect of the collapse of the economy of the future, but the one who occupied it for the last 8 years bears no responsibility for the present?
I am baffled. What is stimulus and what is spending? How do we define these terms? In this environment, aren’t they the same thing? What exactly is going on here? It seems I have fallen down the rabbit hole with Alice, except Alice doesn’t live here anymore. I heard she had to move into the shelter when the bank foreclosed.
It seems to me that we need to define stimulus before we can have an opinion on what is or is not stimulus. Listening to the news it seems like a moving target. The political semantics going on are enough to make one’s head ache.
And so, I have been wondering a lot about what certain terms mean. For example, economic development. What exactly is that? These two ideas, stimulus and economic development, have been haunting me. I feel that the two are intrinsically connected. That to have stimulus you need economic development. And I wonder, why is it that pundits are saying it is wrong for the President to invest in public works projects, but good for corporations to invest in private projects? Is money only green when given to special interest groups? Are only for profit projects capable of creating economic development? I wonder too, what engine drives the economic force of a Nation? A State? Or even a Borough?
By what means do we grow? I believe we must examine these questions, and look at the President’s stimulus plan and budget with the respect we would give to any visionary project. President Obama is planning for decades, not days. His vision is to secure the future for our children, and we need to question the questions, not the man.
Let us ask why family planning was taken out of the stimulus. Is it not stimulus to offer poor women the means to prevent pregnancy? The Republicans claim that they object to funding abortion, but that is not what these funds were for. They were for education at family planning clinics. If a woman can choose to get education and it helps her decide to not get pregnant and not go on welfare, but to get a job or continue in school, is that not stimulus?
If one person is taught to how to prevent STD’s and avoids becoming ill and needing medical assistance and can live a longer, healthier, more productive life, is that not development?
Who is making these decisions? The very same minds who brought us Just Say No and who refuse to see a connection between education and wealth, or rather lack of education and poverty. And speaking of education, let’s ask why it is wrong to fund repair of our schools? How many jobs will it cost us to NOT repair our schools? How many contractors, plumbers, electricians, painters, landscapers, masons, and all the related fields would have benefited from the creation of these projects? These are the questions we need to ask and answer.
Since the law of the land says that a woman has a right to choose, why did we have to take out the funds for family planning? How can that possibly be right? The Opinion of the few, that these funds were for abortion, something that is legal, and that the government should not fund abortion, despite the funds not being for abortions, somehow is justified? Huh?
And if we really believe that our children’s education is vitally important to our future, how can we not fund repair of our schools? I can hear some of you asking, “Is this a trick question?”. It is if you haven’t thought of it.
Why was it “spending” under Bush, but “pork” under Obama? And since when have Democrats “controlled” Washington? I believe the election in ’06 left Dems with a very slight majority, with Senator Joe Lieberman as the deciding vote. And this is a Senate in democratic “control”? This is political semantics, and I think we need to stop listening to the rhetoric and start finding ways to follow what is really going on.
Welcome to the Age of Irony. A time when to get any “real” news, you have to watch the “fake” news on Comedy Central.
Honestly, I often feel as if I have fallen down that proverbial rabbit hole, except in this story I was insured by AIG, could not collect on my insurance policy, lost my job, had to declare bankruptcy, and ended up homeless when my 401K and money market lost all their value in a game of truth or dare the Bush Administration was playing with Wall Street.
And don’t bother to argue that the blame is with the Democrats. Not this time. This is the goal of “small government”. The Conservative mantra that less regulation is good, and NO regulation even better. The last 8 years have left many of our regulatory agencies broken and dysfunctional. Not that Democrats had no part in the drama, just not the starring role.
Now is the time for us to set goals, to reach for the stars and rise above politics. Sounds lofty and good right?
It would, if we had goals. Or more precisely, if we understood what was or was not stimulus. It is difficult to achieve goals you cannot set because you don’t understand the concept. And if you do not have goals you will never reach them.
So let us together try to define stimulus and economic development. The first goal of both is fostering new growth. We must attract and develop new businesses and invite new ideas. This is true on the national and local level. For our local economy to flourish, we need economic stimulus and development. We need to attract new businesses to Phoenixville just as we need to stimulate growth on the national level, and we need to rebuild our consumer confidence and spending. With me so far?
Following this theory, then, creating jobs is good. Educating workers is good. Having a stable healthy workforce is necessary. If these are the goals, then perhaps we need to fortify our education and healthcare systems. Maybe repairing schools and making health care affordable would help us to achieve the goal of economic stimulus. And maybe, just maybe, family planning would help too. Maybe the way out of a recession is planned spending, or to use the politically correct term - stimulus.
But I have to ask this question, are we really in a recession? I think not. We are not Michigan, Florida, Arizona or California. There have been some layoffs, but not on the same scale as in other states. So I wonder, is it really just a media panic? Most people who work for someone else are still getting their same salary, have the same bills to pay and had little savings to start so that isn’t much different. So what is it? The people being hurt the most by this media hysteria are the local small businesses. Most small businesses rely on weekly cash flows to stay open, and cash is scarce as consumers are too afraid to spend. What came first, the media hype or the recession?
Amazingly enough, big box and discount chains are still doing well. People still need to buy stuff. Unfortunately, shopping at this type of business mainly helps the Chinese economy. We need to get our local economy back on track. Supporting local businesses employs your family and friends. Buy Local. Think Global. We are the change we want to see. We need to continue to find new ways to stimulate our own economic development. And we need to remember, President Obama didn’t make this mess, but given a chance, he may just be able to fix it. Let’s give him the chance. Better yet, let’s give President Obama the same benefit of the doubt we gave the Bush Administration regarding WMD’s in Iraq.
Call your State Representative, Senator, or Congressperson, and ask them questions, then tell them what you think. Come up with your own definitions and goals. Write to your local newspaper and call the local news. Host a party and talk about politics. Economic stimulation must begin with opening your mind, and only you can prevent political strangulation from closing it.
Who will stop the whining?
If I were blind, I would ask someone with intimate knowledge of birds to describe a dove. If I were deaf, I would read the words of a great composer, hoping for some glimmer of understanding from their experience. And if I were a minority standing trial, I would want a judge who understands the fullness of my experience. And I am betting that a Latina from New York will have a bit more in common with most of us than the “old, rich, white” dudes we’ve had for decades with a few exceptions, not always for the better.
Judge Sotomayor is not saying she will make a better decision BECAUSE she is a Latina. She is clearly saying that the breadth of her experience gives her a wider view of the common experiences of many people who come before the Court. And this is bad how? The last time the Republicans whined this much they lost the White House.
As usual the Conservative Semantic Team is running full throttle to discredit her remark by saying that “…if a Republican made a comment like this they would never be confirmed.” Really? I have to wonder. Here is what Judge John Roberts had to say in 1991 (after his confirmation), activist judge that he is:
Roberts wrote the government’s brief in a 1991 case in which the Supreme Court held that government could prohibit doctors and clinics who receive federal funds from discussing abortion with their patients. In his brief, Roberts wrote: “We continue to believe that Roe v. Wade was wrongly decided and should be overruled.” He also stated that the 1973 Court decision finds “no support in the text, structure, or history of the Constitution.” (emphasis added)
What? Is he saying that every other Supreme Court Judge who has upheld this decision is wrong? And who is the “We” he speaks of? Certainly not the majority of American voters. Did he mean “we” as in white men? We, Supreme Court Judges who disagree with this ruling? We, as in Republicans? Is this the “we” he speaks of? Could it be his own “collective experience”? Should we have confirmed a man with such a vision of the law? Might he be using his own beliefs, values and background to “color” his opinion?
I keep waiting for the Liberal Elite Media to make some hay. But they seem dismally silent. CNN seems to take pleasure in allowing the self-proclaimed “independent” Lou Dobbs to spend an hour each day critiquing every decision President Obama makes. If I close my eyes, I almost think it is FOX’s Bill O’Reilly spewing his own special brand of hate.
It is possible to take any comment and change its meaning to a partisan one. Anyone remember “Mission Accomplished”? How about “death tax”? And let’s not forget the all-ironic, “fair decision” by the Supreme Court when they appointed George Bush President. No one was allowing their personal beliefs to color that decision. They all left their politics at the door the day they halted the recount on the word of the Republican Secretary of State Katherine Harris, she who just happened to be the Chair of Bush’s campaign in the State of Florida. But surely, her Anglo-Saxon, Christian, Conservative background had nothing to do with that decision.
See how easy it is? I am not going to defend Judge Sotomayor’s words. She speaks for herself. I will instead continue to point out the irony, contradiction and hypocrisy of the “right conservative republican” ideologues.
Let’s review.
When I questioned invading a nation without a declaration of war or provocation, I was called a traitor.
When I support social justice, I am labeled a socialist.
When I stand firm for a woman’s right to choose, I am accused of supporting murder.
And when I point out these absurdities to Conservatives, I am being rude. I am tired of this double standard. Republicans who downplay violence on certain doctors because it is a “war” on abortion, are not “patriots”. They are terrorists just as much as the suicide bombers killing our soldiers every day.
I support and defend my country in a very real way, not with semantics, but with sincerity. I do not blindly accept any statement. I allow my intellect to review the data and make a determination. I have had eight years of platitudes and attitudes, I am ready for some depth and discourse.
Judge Sotomayor never said she would decide a case based upon her ethnicity, or that being a Latina would change her view of the law. Judge Sotomayor said that the “fullness” of her experience would hopefully allow her to make a “wiser” decision. I for one agree, being empathetic, not emphatic, is what we need. And less whining would help too.
This piece is dedicated to Skip Lawrence, who gave me the confidence to start writing again
Judge Sotomayor is not saying she will make a better decision BECAUSE she is a Latina. She is clearly saying that the breadth of her experience gives her a wider view of the common experiences of many people who come before the Court. And this is bad how? The last time the Republicans whined this much they lost the White House.
As usual the Conservative Semantic Team is running full throttle to discredit her remark by saying that “…if a Republican made a comment like this they would never be confirmed.” Really? I have to wonder. Here is what Judge John Roberts had to say in 1991 (after his confirmation), activist judge that he is:
Roberts wrote the government’s brief in a 1991 case in which the Supreme Court held that government could prohibit doctors and clinics who receive federal funds from discussing abortion with their patients. In his brief, Roberts wrote: “We continue to believe that Roe v. Wade was wrongly decided and should be overruled.” He also stated that the 1973 Court decision finds “no support in the text, structure, or history of the Constitution.” (emphasis added)
What? Is he saying that every other Supreme Court Judge who has upheld this decision is wrong? And who is the “We” he speaks of? Certainly not the majority of American voters. Did he mean “we” as in white men? We, Supreme Court Judges who disagree with this ruling? We, as in Republicans? Is this the “we” he speaks of? Could it be his own “collective experience”? Should we have confirmed a man with such a vision of the law? Might he be using his own beliefs, values and background to “color” his opinion?
I keep waiting for the Liberal Elite Media to make some hay. But they seem dismally silent. CNN seems to take pleasure in allowing the self-proclaimed “independent” Lou Dobbs to spend an hour each day critiquing every decision President Obama makes. If I close my eyes, I almost think it is FOX’s Bill O’Reilly spewing his own special brand of hate.
It is possible to take any comment and change its meaning to a partisan one. Anyone remember “Mission Accomplished”? How about “death tax”? And let’s not forget the all-ironic, “fair decision” by the Supreme Court when they appointed George Bush President. No one was allowing their personal beliefs to color that decision. They all left their politics at the door the day they halted the recount on the word of the Republican Secretary of State Katherine Harris, she who just happened to be the Chair of Bush’s campaign in the State of Florida. But surely, her Anglo-Saxon, Christian, Conservative background had nothing to do with that decision.
See how easy it is? I am not going to defend Judge Sotomayor’s words. She speaks for herself. I will instead continue to point out the irony, contradiction and hypocrisy of the “right conservative republican” ideologues.
Let’s review.
When I questioned invading a nation without a declaration of war or provocation, I was called a traitor.
When I support social justice, I am labeled a socialist.
When I stand firm for a woman’s right to choose, I am accused of supporting murder.
And when I point out these absurdities to Conservatives, I am being rude. I am tired of this double standard. Republicans who downplay violence on certain doctors because it is a “war” on abortion, are not “patriots”. They are terrorists just as much as the suicide bombers killing our soldiers every day.
I support and defend my country in a very real way, not with semantics, but with sincerity. I do not blindly accept any statement. I allow my intellect to review the data and make a determination. I have had eight years of platitudes and attitudes, I am ready for some depth and discourse.
Judge Sotomayor never said she would decide a case based upon her ethnicity, or that being a Latina would change her view of the law. Judge Sotomayor said that the “fullness” of her experience would hopefully allow her to make a “wiser” decision. I for one agree, being empathetic, not emphatic, is what we need. And less whining would help too.
This piece is dedicated to Skip Lawrence, who gave me the confidence to start writing again
My First Post
I have decided that this is the perfect day to start my blog. I have been getting lots of requests for a blog page, so here it is. Let's hope no one regrets getting me started. First, let's get the thanks out of the way. I am thankful. Period. End of thanks.
On to the more important issues. I have decided that it is time to answer every singe lie, misquote, rumor, innuendo, crazy statement, and argument that is made by pundits and politicians and that does not adhere to the simple concept of truth, honor, dignity and respect.
The first "big lie", we must support our President in times of war. Amazingly the minds who thought this up forgot that their guy would eventually be out of office and they would have to explain why suddenly it was okay to critisize the President. I am talking to the Rush Limbaugh & Glenn Beck fans who suddenly feel that it is okay to berate the Commander in Chief and question his decisions. I seem to recall these same "patriots" calling it treason to question Bush.
I am not saying we should not question President Obama, I have plenty of questions, like why aren't we able to effect real change in Washington? Why are there still earmarks? Why can't we get rid of lobbyists? Why is Wall Street still the Wild West in terms of compensation? Where are the regulators? When will we see true reform? Why is health care reform so complex? Why can't we respond accordingly to lies regarding the "public option", "death panels" and other absurdities? And finally, when will we speak the truth about why Muslims hate us?
That brings me to the second "big lie", Muslims hate us for our freedom. Wrong, they hate us for our hypocrisy. We who defend freedom and democracy ensure the reign of one of the most oppressive regimes in the world. The House of Saud. Yup, remember when Bush held hands and kissed this head of state? No one questioned his motives. But President Obama bows to show respect in Japan, a country where not bowing is a high insult, and suddenly he's a pansy? What? He's giving away American superiority? Really? Sorry folks, but we lost the moral high ground the minute Dick Cheney, Don Rumsfeld and their band of Blackwater thugs went to Iraq under dubious circumstances and started an illegal war by invading a soverign nation and while our attention was on the war, these same genuises managed to allow the largest financial scam to go undetected and now, these same people are somehow blaming all this on President Obama. Neat trick, despicable, but what the hell, its politics right?
The constant drumbeat of "lower taxes" despite the cost of two wars and rebuilding an economy show such a stunning lack of intelligence, vision and ability I am at a loss to explain how seemingly intelligent people can fail to grasp basic math. Our military, police and teachers are our most important assets and the foundation of our democracy, yet they are paid a fraction of what we allow celebrities and athletes to make, why?
I plan to use this blog to post pieces detailing the flaws in much of the conservative policy. I will also write about Democratic failures and policy issues. I will be reposting several earlier pieces I have written on the Myth called the Democratization of Money, the Failure of Leadership, in Politics & Education and much more. This blog is going to explore the nature of truth, politics, philosophy and science. I welcome additional contributions and comments.
Why did I call by blog "Who is John Galt"? John Galt was a man who believed we should honor ability and acheivment, that life was for those who were accomplished, who could produce, not those who stole others ideas, or those who merely pontificated. I believe John Galt would support President Obama as a man of ability. This man is no looter, he is not a moocher. These terms need to be revisited (and will be in my next post I think). Objectivism is not the opposite of Liberalism, it is the opposite of Collectivism. We need to think about who is asking us to think for ourselves and who is asking us to join the common mindset?
On to the more important issues. I have decided that it is time to answer every singe lie, misquote, rumor, innuendo, crazy statement, and argument that is made by pundits and politicians and that does not adhere to the simple concept of truth, honor, dignity and respect.
The first "big lie", we must support our President in times of war. Amazingly the minds who thought this up forgot that their guy would eventually be out of office and they would have to explain why suddenly it was okay to critisize the President. I am talking to the Rush Limbaugh & Glenn Beck fans who suddenly feel that it is okay to berate the Commander in Chief and question his decisions. I seem to recall these same "patriots" calling it treason to question Bush.
I am not saying we should not question President Obama, I have plenty of questions, like why aren't we able to effect real change in Washington? Why are there still earmarks? Why can't we get rid of lobbyists? Why is Wall Street still the Wild West in terms of compensation? Where are the regulators? When will we see true reform? Why is health care reform so complex? Why can't we respond accordingly to lies regarding the "public option", "death panels" and other absurdities? And finally, when will we speak the truth about why Muslims hate us?
That brings me to the second "big lie", Muslims hate us for our freedom. Wrong, they hate us for our hypocrisy. We who defend freedom and democracy ensure the reign of one of the most oppressive regimes in the world. The House of Saud. Yup, remember when Bush held hands and kissed this head of state? No one questioned his motives. But President Obama bows to show respect in Japan, a country where not bowing is a high insult, and suddenly he's a pansy? What? He's giving away American superiority? Really? Sorry folks, but we lost the moral high ground the minute Dick Cheney, Don Rumsfeld and their band of Blackwater thugs went to Iraq under dubious circumstances and started an illegal war by invading a soverign nation and while our attention was on the war, these same genuises managed to allow the largest financial scam to go undetected and now, these same people are somehow blaming all this on President Obama. Neat trick, despicable, but what the hell, its politics right?
The constant drumbeat of "lower taxes" despite the cost of two wars and rebuilding an economy show such a stunning lack of intelligence, vision and ability I am at a loss to explain how seemingly intelligent people can fail to grasp basic math. Our military, police and teachers are our most important assets and the foundation of our democracy, yet they are paid a fraction of what we allow celebrities and athletes to make, why?
I plan to use this blog to post pieces detailing the flaws in much of the conservative policy. I will also write about Democratic failures and policy issues. I will be reposting several earlier pieces I have written on the Myth called the Democratization of Money, the Failure of Leadership, in Politics & Education and much more. This blog is going to explore the nature of truth, politics, philosophy and science. I welcome additional contributions and comments.
Why did I call by blog "Who is John Galt"? John Galt was a man who believed we should honor ability and acheivment, that life was for those who were accomplished, who could produce, not those who stole others ideas, or those who merely pontificated. I believe John Galt would support President Obama as a man of ability. This man is no looter, he is not a moocher. These terms need to be revisited (and will be in my next post I think). Objectivism is not the opposite of Liberalism, it is the opposite of Collectivism. We need to think about who is asking us to think for ourselves and who is asking us to join the common mindset?
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