I can't even believe some of the things that Barack Obama is getting away with saying. Republicans, even if voted into the houses of Congress by "We the People" are to be relegated to the back of the congressional bus. They can "help" if they want to, but they have to do what he tells them. Who the heck does this man think he is? Our Emperor? Der Fuhrer? Or does he sense that he is the next Washington, or Lincoln, or Roosevelt? This "King" and his "court" has certainly outdone past Presidents for urbanity, cool "nobless oblige" and glamour! He is the most arrogant President certainly. Can't you just feel how stupid he thinks we are? He is the cool kid in high school that everyone wants to bask in his ambience. He's smooth, he's cool, and others follow his lead. It's clear that he's confident and he feels a warm glow for the poorest of the poor. They love anybody who says there'll be a chicken in every pot. It was said by many others in their day. Other self-promoters that thought they needed no help figuring out what everyone else should do. I am not stupid and I am not affluent. Those things don't necessarily go together.
I will not be condescended to because I am one of the common people. I am intelligent and I am a college graduate. I am proud and independent and I try hard to make my way. But I am also disabled with a back condition and had to retire early, so I am also a Social Security recipient. There is a greater proportion of people becoming disabled than ever previously. And it feels like the dole when it should be a proud thing that this country takes care of people who fall ill. A society that takes care of its own is a truly civilized society.It is the stress of a society, gone to seed, in the wake of the industrialized and information age that developed along with technology in the last hundred years. The pace, to human beings, and our environment has been exponentially increased during that time, and the result is a society deconstructing in morals and traditions and rules. Most of the ills of civilization can be traced to the breakdown of morality, education, and hospitality. We became complacent. We failed to continue to value what we had until it was long lost. The cow is out of the barn now, and we are living with the havoc that creates. Our government has now become our nanny. We can only have as much freedom and prosperity that Obama determines. I shouldn't feel like a second-class citizen because I have limited resources, so he feels that the solution is to bring everyone else down to that level of government controlling their income. I don't like being manipulated, and that is exactly what D.C. has been doing to us for a long, long time now. Where are the Patrick Henry's of our day. The Ben Franklin, the Thomas Jefferson? I decided about a year ago, that Glenn Beck is the Paul Revere. Love him or hate him, he is being a beacon to a lot of people, not only Republicans. The Republicans have sinned, and I have a feeling a few of them shouldn't be throwing any stones!
D.C is an entrenched system, and all the newcomers are going to be told to "go along to get along". If they do, their first term will be their last.....I hope! I hope the tea party lasts. I don't even know about the Tea Party. It depends on what they now do. If they get caught up in more of the same, I hope they get unseated along with Obama in 2012. Obama is sure of a career after this anyway. He will have his own show on the Oprah network! He'll have to quit blowing smoke though!
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Monday, October 18, 2010
America the Pitiful
I am really getting tired of the sniping political ads on TV. I get annoyed by them every election year, but this particular election cycle, I am finding the ads more intolerable than ever. I don't know if it is because the GOP is behaving as though they had no part in taking this country down the wrong road, or because the Democrats are putting so much distance between themselves and the current administration. Probably both. I usually vote Republican because their agenda mostly matches my own, but the people in office now and in the past have so abused their privilege that they are just as much to blame for the country's ills as those now in power. Like the old fable about the ant and the grasshopper, they have been grasshoppers that played all summer long when they should have been gathering ahead for the long cruel winter. There are few "ants" at the helm these days and those that are gathering are feathering their own personal nests rather than saving for America's rainy day.
It's definitely storming in my neck of the woods. I have rarely been so hard-pressed as I am these days. Like many parents and grandparents these days, we are trying to help our grown children get back on their feet. Our bills are exceeding our resources every single month. Kind of like our country's bills are exceeding our resources. Our country's indebtedness is killing our independence, and no one wants to take responsibility for it. In fact. everyone is running away from the responsibility. The time for running away is over. I would love to hear a candidate make an ad saying "I have learned from my mistakes. I was busy feathering my own nest along with everyone else in government, but now I am going to do my best to get rid of earmarks, and to achieve tort reform, and give value to the American people who put their trust in me by giving me their votes". Wouldn't that be awesome?
Incumbents are going to be leaving in record numbers this election. Everywhere I go, I hear people say that they are going to vote against every incumbent representative. It's a backlash to punish whoever already holds office, but in many ways it is a misdirected action. It really isn't always the players that are the problem. Sometimes it's the game. In the U.S. government, it is the game that needs to be changed up. Our government hasn't always been run the way it is now. People became complacent when it came to being the watchdogs of their government. Furthermore, the American people became like spoiled children feeling entitled to getting more out of the government than we put in. Our constitution doesn't entitle us to be freeloaders. Sadly, some people die because of inadequate health care. But people also die with the best care money can buy. As tough as it is, we need to get back to a place where if we can't buy it, we can't get it. That is going to be the only thing that will make people grab hold of their bootstraps and pull. No politician is going to tell you that when they want your vote.
I can't wait until this election cycle is over, but I know that it is going to be a short time before it all starts again heading into the presidential election in 2012. It didn't really feel like we had a break since the last presidential election. But I know what I am looking for in a President. I want someone honest who will take responsibility for whatever he does or says. I want him to tell me the truth without the spin on it. I want someone who doesn't just pay lip service to the problems we have, but really works at being a problem-solver. I want someone who isn't afraid to look at the way the government can be changed to meet the needs of America in crisis. I want someone whose agenda isn't a hidden one. Does such a man or woman exist in America today that can be elected? I don't know, but I will be watching to see. Even if I have to listen to their campaign ads with a clothespin on my nose!
It's definitely storming in my neck of the woods. I have rarely been so hard-pressed as I am these days. Like many parents and grandparents these days, we are trying to help our grown children get back on their feet. Our bills are exceeding our resources every single month. Kind of like our country's bills are exceeding our resources. Our country's indebtedness is killing our independence, and no one wants to take responsibility for it. In fact. everyone is running away from the responsibility. The time for running away is over. I would love to hear a candidate make an ad saying "I have learned from my mistakes. I was busy feathering my own nest along with everyone else in government, but now I am going to do my best to get rid of earmarks, and to achieve tort reform, and give value to the American people who put their trust in me by giving me their votes". Wouldn't that be awesome?
Incumbents are going to be leaving in record numbers this election. Everywhere I go, I hear people say that they are going to vote against every incumbent representative. It's a backlash to punish whoever already holds office, but in many ways it is a misdirected action. It really isn't always the players that are the problem. Sometimes it's the game. In the U.S. government, it is the game that needs to be changed up. Our government hasn't always been run the way it is now. People became complacent when it came to being the watchdogs of their government. Furthermore, the American people became like spoiled children feeling entitled to getting more out of the government than we put in. Our constitution doesn't entitle us to be freeloaders. Sadly, some people die because of inadequate health care. But people also die with the best care money can buy. As tough as it is, we need to get back to a place where if we can't buy it, we can't get it. That is going to be the only thing that will make people grab hold of their bootstraps and pull. No politician is going to tell you that when they want your vote.
I can't wait until this election cycle is over, but I know that it is going to be a short time before it all starts again heading into the presidential election in 2012. It didn't really feel like we had a break since the last presidential election. But I know what I am looking for in a President. I want someone honest who will take responsibility for whatever he does or says. I want him to tell me the truth without the spin on it. I want someone who doesn't just pay lip service to the problems we have, but really works at being a problem-solver. I want someone who isn't afraid to look at the way the government can be changed to meet the needs of America in crisis. I want someone whose agenda isn't a hidden one. Does such a man or woman exist in America today that can be elected? I don't know, but I will be watching to see. Even if I have to listen to their campaign ads with a clothespin on my nose!
Monday, October 11, 2010
That's (virtual) Life!
I have had quite a week. To tell you the truth, this is pretty much the way my life has rolled for a long time. Last week began with both of my adult children in the hospital via the ER and admitted. Then I became sick as well, and got loaded down with medication and relieved of my money by the pharmacy. The week then ended with the breakdown of my van and what could have been a very expensive repair. Fortunately, with the help of a couple of dear friends, I avoided a towing bill this time and minimal cost for a used alternator from the junkyard. Instead of writing a check from a badly depleted checking account, I asked for a little help from my friends. I have great friends, but I don't spend a lot of actual time with them in person. It is so much easier, seemingly, to email or call or use some kind of technological interface to connect with others. Our time is so used up with virtual life that we hardly have time for an actual one. By the time I get finished checking my email and attending to my virtual farming, I barely have time to shower before the pizza delivery guy gets here.
I have a very difficult time asking for help from anyone and I always have. I was brought up to be self-sufficient, but that doesn't always work too well in the world we live in. I have seen many people in the same boat these days. It is sometimes hard to preach self-sufficency when parents have to allow their children to come back home because for one reason or another, their finances went south, or you have failed to successfully launch an adult child. Some people who have never had to rely on food stamps have been forced to ask for them, or go to a food pantry or a church for help for feeding and clothing the extra people. For a conservative to have to rely on government help, feels really wrong and to some people looking on, it looks like hypocrisy. I have been thinking a lot about how we spend our money these days, and why we spend it on the things we do.
Life has gotten a lot harder these days, in my humble opinion. We suffer from information overload, and unprecedented dents in our personal privacy. We are wired from head to toe, every day. Our technology has advanced so exponentially, that it is possible for people with very limited incomes to have cell phones, and computers with internet access. These gadgets have become as necessary to most of the people I know as basic utilities like water and electricity. As a matter of fact, I know many people who would pay their cell phone bills or their internet providers BEFORE they would pay their other utilities, if they could only pay one or the other. Everyone I know is having money trouble of some kind, and technology is creating strange addictions that are contributing to the financial meltdowns and the demise of face to face relationships.
Is anyone still not on Facebook? I can't remember what life was like before I got started. Young and old have joined in social networking. It can be a good thing, or a very bad thing. Over the last year, I have found out things about my family and friends that I probably would never have known before due to social networks. That hasn't always been good news. I know that people have found out more about my family than I have actually wanted to be broadcast. Not trying to hide anything in particular, but do we really want all our business cast abroad on Twitter or Myspace, or Facebook? I have seen fights started and escalated and relationships ended over these networks. Many of us are clearly addicted to this new type of communication. Facebook says on its login page that it is "free, and always will be". But internet access clearly is not free, nor are cell phones. I grew up with free television, but that is another "necessity" that has gobbled up part of our paychecks in the last two decades. It became a necessity for most people, but clearly people must have lived happy lives for hundreds of years without it. That should call for us to redefine what is actually a necessity, and what is simply a choice.
I am part of a generation that has always had a phone and television, but my parents were born before the Great Depression, and started their lives, and even their marriages with horses as their main transportation resource other than walking. It is tough to get a kid these days to walk to the garbage can with their soda can! My parents had to walk miles every day to school, after they did whatever chores they had to do in the morning before school. In less than a century, life has changed drastically in this country. I know I sound like every old fuddy-duddy that has ever complained about "the young folks these days". That isn't even my point though when it comes to wasting our resources though. Resource isn't just about money. Resources can be anything of value to which we have access, like friends. I have a lot more friends than money these days, and I know I am not alone.
Our family's financial problems are a microcosm of America's financial problems. After World War 2, we had a burst of prosperity that was unprecedented in this country. From the leisure this gave people came the inspiration that gave rise to widespread re-invention to everything we already did, but it allowed us to do it with less effort and ingenuity. A lot of what we came up with is really good and valuable, but not everything has turned out so well. A lot of our conveniences have contributed to the ills of our society today that we all decry. Convenience food has gotten mom out of the kitchen, but it also forced her to go make a living outside the home to pay for the extra cost of convenience. It has also contributed to obesity and indolence. Stress and illness follow on the heels of all this overload, and we find ourselves not better off, but worse in many different identifiable ways. We all seem to be in a vicious spiraling-down of well-being that can be directly and indirectly related to lifestyle.
I am looking for a way out of the mess I've gotten myself into. I want a compromise between enjoying convenience and damaging my health and prosperity. I don't want to give up all my conveniences, but I want to down-size. I don't want a complete disconnect from techology, but I want physical and psychological health to be the priority in my life over convenience. Technology should enhance our lives and relationships, not take them over. Getting my van repaired this week led to spending quality time with my friends in person rather than on Facebook. It got me thinking about my time and my pocketbook, and it was a lot of fun. And it cost a heck of a lot less!
I have a very difficult time asking for help from anyone and I always have. I was brought up to be self-sufficient, but that doesn't always work too well in the world we live in. I have seen many people in the same boat these days. It is sometimes hard to preach self-sufficency when parents have to allow their children to come back home because for one reason or another, their finances went south, or you have failed to successfully launch an adult child. Some people who have never had to rely on food stamps have been forced to ask for them, or go to a food pantry or a church for help for feeding and clothing the extra people. For a conservative to have to rely on government help, feels really wrong and to some people looking on, it looks like hypocrisy. I have been thinking a lot about how we spend our money these days, and why we spend it on the things we do.
Life has gotten a lot harder these days, in my humble opinion. We suffer from information overload, and unprecedented dents in our personal privacy. We are wired from head to toe, every day. Our technology has advanced so exponentially, that it is possible for people with very limited incomes to have cell phones, and computers with internet access. These gadgets have become as necessary to most of the people I know as basic utilities like water and electricity. As a matter of fact, I know many people who would pay their cell phone bills or their internet providers BEFORE they would pay their other utilities, if they could only pay one or the other. Everyone I know is having money trouble of some kind, and technology is creating strange addictions that are contributing to the financial meltdowns and the demise of face to face relationships.
Is anyone still not on Facebook? I can't remember what life was like before I got started. Young and old have joined in social networking. It can be a good thing, or a very bad thing. Over the last year, I have found out things about my family and friends that I probably would never have known before due to social networks. That hasn't always been good news. I know that people have found out more about my family than I have actually wanted to be broadcast. Not trying to hide anything in particular, but do we really want all our business cast abroad on Twitter or Myspace, or Facebook? I have seen fights started and escalated and relationships ended over these networks. Many of us are clearly addicted to this new type of communication. Facebook says on its login page that it is "free, and always will be". But internet access clearly is not free, nor are cell phones. I grew up with free television, but that is another "necessity" that has gobbled up part of our paychecks in the last two decades. It became a necessity for most people, but clearly people must have lived happy lives for hundreds of years without it. That should call for us to redefine what is actually a necessity, and what is simply a choice.
I am part of a generation that has always had a phone and television, but my parents were born before the Great Depression, and started their lives, and even their marriages with horses as their main transportation resource other than walking. It is tough to get a kid these days to walk to the garbage can with their soda can! My parents had to walk miles every day to school, after they did whatever chores they had to do in the morning before school. In less than a century, life has changed drastically in this country. I know I sound like every old fuddy-duddy that has ever complained about "the young folks these days". That isn't even my point though when it comes to wasting our resources though. Resource isn't just about money. Resources can be anything of value to which we have access, like friends. I have a lot more friends than money these days, and I know I am not alone.
Our family's financial problems are a microcosm of America's financial problems. After World War 2, we had a burst of prosperity that was unprecedented in this country. From the leisure this gave people came the inspiration that gave rise to widespread re-invention to everything we already did, but it allowed us to do it with less effort and ingenuity. A lot of what we came up with is really good and valuable, but not everything has turned out so well. A lot of our conveniences have contributed to the ills of our society today that we all decry. Convenience food has gotten mom out of the kitchen, but it also forced her to go make a living outside the home to pay for the extra cost of convenience. It has also contributed to obesity and indolence. Stress and illness follow on the heels of all this overload, and we find ourselves not better off, but worse in many different identifiable ways. We all seem to be in a vicious spiraling-down of well-being that can be directly and indirectly related to lifestyle.
I am looking for a way out of the mess I've gotten myself into. I want a compromise between enjoying convenience and damaging my health and prosperity. I don't want to give up all my conveniences, but I want to down-size. I don't want a complete disconnect from techology, but I want physical and psychological health to be the priority in my life over convenience. Technology should enhance our lives and relationships, not take them over. Getting my van repaired this week led to spending quality time with my friends in person rather than on Facebook. It got me thinking about my time and my pocketbook, and it was a lot of fun. And it cost a heck of a lot less!
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Beginning again.......
I keep thinking about and writing about what I need to talk about in my blog. I write and then discard many things because of how inflammatory issues are these days. I didn't have any specific agenda when I began to write. I was involved with the Tea Party on tax day in 2009, and that is where I became acquainted with the managers of this radio station. I haven't listened to very much radio since I was a teenager because I never really cared for a lot of formats and I was busy yelling at my kids and listening to them yell for about 20 years of my life to date. I did have a few that I listened to in the car only, and since I retired, I am not in the car as much as I used to be. But if they don't play the music I want to hear, I flip around a lot even in the car when I am trying to get somewhere.Occasionally I have listened to WKVI, but usually it is at a friend's home or car because the music format is a little bland for me. I am not usually listening to talk formats either. I know a lot of conservatives are avid talk radio fans. I just don't think to try to find out when Glen Beck or Rush Limbaugh are on and catch their program. I do enjoy news. I watch Fox news as often as I can get Spongebob and friends off my set for a few minutes. More about that later.
So anyway, I like to write, need to write, and have some talent at it, if I must say so myself, and I have to clear my head out of the zillions of thoughts that bombard my head every night and day. It is like mental clutter. If I don't write, I get stressed-out to the max. The need to express those thoughts is what has driven every human being to their particular bent in the way of art, music, or any other expressive art. It can easily go negative if our hearts and minds are beset by the inability to express it. For me, it results in depression and a kind of mental paralysis that sets in if I don't write about it. I started going to the WKVI website when it occurred to me that if I didn't get a newspaper or something, I was never going to know anything about what was going on in my community. One time there was an ad there asking for someone to apply for a columnist position for a new project the radio station was working on. I interviewed for it and was chosen. I always wanted to have a column in a newspaper, so I thought maybe this could lead somewhere. It is an unpaid position and there are no real rules about when I post or how long between posts or even what I blogged about. But, I guess I thought it had to be political. I can't even think about the state of the union every day, or I would go really nuts!
I was really hopeful and I posted quite often at first, but when I found so few people reading it, I got discouraged. I have had a heck of a year this past year with a bunch of personal problems in many different arenas. So I was already at a disadvantage and then on top of that, I couldn't have my little personal triumph. I have written several times that I didn't end up publishing for one reason or another, but more often I have written poetry, or the beginnings of books in my head that aren't really appropriate for a blog. I found myself asking inwardly; what is a blog supposed to be about?
I decided that a blog is about anything you want it to be. I am interested in so many things and I realized that I have to write what is in my head, or I will be stopped until I do. I write with passion and informed opinion about many things because I am a perpetual student. If something interests me, I have to learn more about it. I read extensively in many different genres. I have something to say about just about anything but I do have my peculiar special interests. Sometimes it will definitely be politics and the value of conservatism, but sometimes you'll be my companion in some of life's conundrums. So in my renovated column, the reader will get what is on my mind at that particular time, and I will do my best to have a new column every Monday. Maybe I will even get some readers this time
So anyway, I like to write, need to write, and have some talent at it, if I must say so myself, and I have to clear my head out of the zillions of thoughts that bombard my head every night and day. It is like mental clutter. If I don't write, I get stressed-out to the max. The need to express those thoughts is what has driven every human being to their particular bent in the way of art, music, or any other expressive art. It can easily go negative if our hearts and minds are beset by the inability to express it. For me, it results in depression and a kind of mental paralysis that sets in if I don't write about it. I started going to the WKVI website when it occurred to me that if I didn't get a newspaper or something, I was never going to know anything about what was going on in my community. One time there was an ad there asking for someone to apply for a columnist position for a new project the radio station was working on. I interviewed for it and was chosen. I always wanted to have a column in a newspaper, so I thought maybe this could lead somewhere. It is an unpaid position and there are no real rules about when I post or how long between posts or even what I blogged about. But, I guess I thought it had to be political. I can't even think about the state of the union every day, or I would go really nuts!
I was really hopeful and I posted quite often at first, but when I found so few people reading it, I got discouraged. I have had a heck of a year this past year with a bunch of personal problems in many different arenas. So I was already at a disadvantage and then on top of that, I couldn't have my little personal triumph. I have written several times that I didn't end up publishing for one reason or another, but more often I have written poetry, or the beginnings of books in my head that aren't really appropriate for a blog. I found myself asking inwardly; what is a blog supposed to be about?
I decided that a blog is about anything you want it to be. I am interested in so many things and I realized that I have to write what is in my head, or I will be stopped until I do. I write with passion and informed opinion about many things because I am a perpetual student. If something interests me, I have to learn more about it. I read extensively in many different genres. I have something to say about just about anything but I do have my peculiar special interests. Sometimes it will definitely be politics and the value of conservatism, but sometimes you'll be my companion in some of life's conundrums. So in my renovated column, the reader will get what is on my mind at that particular time, and I will do my best to have a new column every Monday. Maybe I will even get some readers this time
Monday, February 8, 2010
Time for a tea party?
Well it is getting to be close to that time of year when everyone has to answer to the IRS for the financial success or failure for the year. I am willing to guess that for many of us, the picture hasn't been too handsome. I know it sure isn't for us. We have had a tough year. Actually the last 3 or 4 haven't been too great. Could we have been better managers? Yes of course. Life has been extraordinarily stressful for many Americans the last few years, but it has been hard to break habits of prosperity. Our downfall is not having the energy or time to cook which gives McDonald's a good fiscal outlook. Nor is it easy to do without cell phones or internet connections like it used to be. Even the government resents having to have other methods rather than electronic for all those folks who have resisted giving in to 21st century technology. Their public service announcements always tell you that you can access more on the web, but reluctantly gives you a phone number if you are gauche enough to not be computer-ready.But I digress.......
Most people in America have had it good for a long time. The rest of the world knows it, but Americans don't always acknowledge it. We have gotten used to having it all even when we can't pay for it. Kind of like a giant Ponzi scheme, it isn't really sustainable. When you break it down to what we really need to survive, our misery is all but laughable. What we need to be is what we are not anymore.Thankful!
I agree with liberals on few things, but I do believe in charity. Happily, that is something most Americans are good at. We believe we are the good guys,(and we are!) and we ride to the rescue when something is wrong in the world. I am happy about that. What I am not happy about is the same thing many other Americans are not happy about: our government growing so large that one hand doesn't know what the other hand is doing. The fact that the political environment is so insular, and doesn't even hear the American people say "whoa" to the growing of our insane national debt! Our government is rife with corruption and, even worse, just the kind of habitat for people that want to make a career and a buck out of two-timing their constituents.
This is supposed to be a representative government. Washington, D.C. is so overrun with individuals that have their own agendas to tend to at the expense of the people they represent. A lot of us are fed up with it, and that is why you have the "tea party" movement. No particular leader, no particular party and no micro-management: just a bunch of tax-paying citizens that read the Constitution and don't believe the document our Founding Fathers gave us is being followed closely or correctly. There are a bunch of elitist people and organizations who put their agendas before the best interests and opinions of the majority of Americans in both parties. We are a diverse people but we can care about our environment without putting the" yellow-bellied, red-crested woodpecker" ahead of human beings. We can be fiscally responsible without being the party of "No", or the party of "Go"!
We had a tea party rally last year on April 15th on the courhouse square here in Starke County. Many people were amazed by the turnout for a quickly-planned, and under-organized rally, but that just shows that here in Starke county, we want our voices heard too! It was planned in just two weeks, and put together hastily, but it had an impact. We are trying to plan another event for this year, and we would like as much help as we can get. If anyone would like to help plan and carry out a rally, or a political "meet and greet" before the primary, contact me at (574) 241-5150. I don't want to vote for anyone that I don't know anything about. I've done that and it never felt right. It matters whom we elect here in Starke county. We could be furthering the career of a future advisor to the President or the President himself. Stranger things have happened. We need to know these nominees and their agendas in our home county too. It affects all of us.
Most people in America have had it good for a long time. The rest of the world knows it, but Americans don't always acknowledge it. We have gotten used to having it all even when we can't pay for it. Kind of like a giant Ponzi scheme, it isn't really sustainable. When you break it down to what we really need to survive, our misery is all but laughable. What we need to be is what we are not anymore.Thankful!
I agree with liberals on few things, but I do believe in charity. Happily, that is something most Americans are good at. We believe we are the good guys,(and we are!) and we ride to the rescue when something is wrong in the world. I am happy about that. What I am not happy about is the same thing many other Americans are not happy about: our government growing so large that one hand doesn't know what the other hand is doing. The fact that the political environment is so insular, and doesn't even hear the American people say "whoa" to the growing of our insane national debt! Our government is rife with corruption and, even worse, just the kind of habitat for people that want to make a career and a buck out of two-timing their constituents.
This is supposed to be a representative government. Washington, D.C. is so overrun with individuals that have their own agendas to tend to at the expense of the people they represent. A lot of us are fed up with it, and that is why you have the "tea party" movement. No particular leader, no particular party and no micro-management: just a bunch of tax-paying citizens that read the Constitution and don't believe the document our Founding Fathers gave us is being followed closely or correctly. There are a bunch of elitist people and organizations who put their agendas before the best interests and opinions of the majority of Americans in both parties. We are a diverse people but we can care about our environment without putting the" yellow-bellied, red-crested woodpecker" ahead of human beings. We can be fiscally responsible without being the party of "No", or the party of "Go"!
We had a tea party rally last year on April 15th on the courhouse square here in Starke County. Many people were amazed by the turnout for a quickly-planned, and under-organized rally, but that just shows that here in Starke county, we want our voices heard too! It was planned in just two weeks, and put together hastily, but it had an impact. We are trying to plan another event for this year, and we would like as much help as we can get. If anyone would like to help plan and carry out a rally, or a political "meet and greet" before the primary, contact me at (574) 241-5150. I don't want to vote for anyone that I don't know anything about. I've done that and it never felt right. It matters whom we elect here in Starke county. We could be furthering the career of a future advisor to the President or the President himself. Stranger things have happened. We need to know these nominees and their agendas in our home county too. It affects all of us.
Monday, January 4, 2010
Relationships
Wow, it has been a long time since I have written anything. I don't really feel good about thing in particular, but neither do I feel passionately about much of anything right now. I think I am a littled depressed,and I may be getting worse as the winter goes on. I think often of writing in a fleeting sort of way. It takes more discipline than I have sometimes.
This life is all about relationships. Making time for fellowship with others. I think that is what all the social networking sites are about. People want to connect with other people that they like, but everyone lives their lives with such complications and tries to move their baggage around. And the baggage gets too heavy, and we abandon it somewhere, but we didn't leave the pain behind. We carry around all these suitcases of beliefs and practices that until that day the burden picks us up and carries us out.Some relationships spend all their time carrying around their luggage. Some don't ever unload it. Then there are others that mostly carry the luggage for as many people as we can pile on. Some of us with relationships with people whom we totally carry find that this bagless individual gets used to piling them on. A lot of them don't even want to place stress on the relationship this way. But we are a world of individuals with separate psyches. Some of us get tossed together and we decide we would rather muddle it out with the people we care about even if not having the relationship would be more peaceful. And as Martha Stewart says "it's a good thing.
It's important to keep families together. I would rather my kids have a network of family that would give a damn about their welfare. And I would hope that my children would return the favor and regard. It shouldn't be easy to leave good friends. Most of them come and go in life. Born in proximity, some of them wax and wain, and sometimes fade altogether. But those friendships that light you up, or give you warmth and camaradie should not be foregone or neglected lightly.After all we have one life to live as this human, in this body on this plane of existence that we know of right now. All other beliefs are in our future somewhere ahead and there are lots of beliefs held out there that deserve to be respected even if not held. That is civilized society.
While political correctness is not always comfortable, it serves a purpose. Commonly held standards of behavior, although certainly greatly relaxed since the greatest generation, are what keep great societies together. A lot of that is a good idea. But political correctness to cover up a lie? Not such a good idea. But that's another subject.I guess my point is that we should nurture the people who nurture us. That's what helps us carry on. The people in our life encourage us and motivate us and make us laugh or distract us when we just need a break for our mind. Some people are just naturally good at this. The relationships that strangle us or discourage us, we should change or limit. Rarely does someone deserved to be completely excluded, but it does happen for the good sometimes. It is always a pity.
Wow, a new year. Maybe time to shine off some of those people skills. Maybe time to get out of our own heads and see if we can do at least a little something that will improve our world; or at least, our relationships.
This life is all about relationships. Making time for fellowship with others. I think that is what all the social networking sites are about. People want to connect with other people that they like, but everyone lives their lives with such complications and tries to move their baggage around. And the baggage gets too heavy, and we abandon it somewhere, but we didn't leave the pain behind. We carry around all these suitcases of beliefs and practices that until that day the burden picks us up and carries us out.Some relationships spend all their time carrying around their luggage. Some don't ever unload it. Then there are others that mostly carry the luggage for as many people as we can pile on. Some of us with relationships with people whom we totally carry find that this bagless individual gets used to piling them on. A lot of them don't even want to place stress on the relationship this way. But we are a world of individuals with separate psyches. Some of us get tossed together and we decide we would rather muddle it out with the people we care about even if not having the relationship would be more peaceful. And as Martha Stewart says "it's a good thing.
It's important to keep families together. I would rather my kids have a network of family that would give a damn about their welfare. And I would hope that my children would return the favor and regard. It shouldn't be easy to leave good friends. Most of them come and go in life. Born in proximity, some of them wax and wain, and sometimes fade altogether. But those friendships that light you up, or give you warmth and camaradie should not be foregone or neglected lightly.After all we have one life to live as this human, in this body on this plane of existence that we know of right now. All other beliefs are in our future somewhere ahead and there are lots of beliefs held out there that deserve to be respected even if not held. That is civilized society.
While political correctness is not always comfortable, it serves a purpose. Commonly held standards of behavior, although certainly greatly relaxed since the greatest generation, are what keep great societies together. A lot of that is a good idea. But political correctness to cover up a lie? Not such a good idea. But that's another subject.I guess my point is that we should nurture the people who nurture us. That's what helps us carry on. The people in our life encourage us and motivate us and make us laugh or distract us when we just need a break for our mind. Some people are just naturally good at this. The relationships that strangle us or discourage us, we should change or limit. Rarely does someone deserved to be completely excluded, but it does happen for the good sometimes. It is always a pity.
Wow, a new year. Maybe time to shine off some of those people skills. Maybe time to get out of our own heads and see if we can do at least a little something that will improve our world; or at least, our relationships.
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Happy Thanksgiving!
If you haven't noticed by now, if you are reading this column, I am strongly opinionated. I am passionate about a lot of issues, and I admit to a little "attitude" every once in a while! But the thing I am most passionate about, after my faith in God, is family. I love my family! All of it; from the most ridiculous to the sublime! I am fortunate to have a big extended family. We are both flawed and fabulous! We squabble amongst ourselves at times, and yet, the loyalty and the love is tremendous. We may fight each other, but just let someone else jump on any of us, and it's a hillbilly jihad!
Today is the day we set aside to give thanks for all the blessings in our life, and I thank God for my family, my friends, my church and my country. Sometimes I let things that are happening in our country get to me and stress me out. When I do that, I lose sight of all the wonderful things around me, and I forget to be thankful. I am going to try not to do that anymore. Regardless of the hard times so many of us are having right now, there is still much to be thankful for about living in America! Even struggling financially, there is more available to us here than anywhere else in the world. Some of the poorest people here are rich compared to citizens in most other countries. We should be humbled by that and grateful for it.
I want to say to everyone that focusing on what we do have and being grateful will make everything better in our lives. Not just on Thanksgiving Day, but every day of the year. Get out of the house this holiday season, not just for shopping, but to re-connect with the reason for the season! Take your kids for a drive to look at Christmas lights. Go to a cantata or a Christmas play. Go caroling around your neighborhood or a nursing home. Volunteer to deliver Christmas baskets with a church or community group. Visit with family or friends and take them a plate of Christmas goodies. You will be blessed by blessing others.
God bless all of you and yours today and always.
Today is the day we set aside to give thanks for all the blessings in our life, and I thank God for my family, my friends, my church and my country. Sometimes I let things that are happening in our country get to me and stress me out. When I do that, I lose sight of all the wonderful things around me, and I forget to be thankful. I am going to try not to do that anymore. Regardless of the hard times so many of us are having right now, there is still much to be thankful for about living in America! Even struggling financially, there is more available to us here than anywhere else in the world. Some of the poorest people here are rich compared to citizens in most other countries. We should be humbled by that and grateful for it.
I want to say to everyone that focusing on what we do have and being grateful will make everything better in our lives. Not just on Thanksgiving Day, but every day of the year. Get out of the house this holiday season, not just for shopping, but to re-connect with the reason for the season! Take your kids for a drive to look at Christmas lights. Go to a cantata or a Christmas play. Go caroling around your neighborhood or a nursing home. Volunteer to deliver Christmas baskets with a church or community group. Visit with family or friends and take them a plate of Christmas goodies. You will be blessed by blessing others.
God bless all of you and yours today and always.
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