March 19, 2020

We need a Leader in DC

Open letter to: Congress

I am mad.  Mad.  

Please, please find a better spokespersons for the Covid-19 daily news briefings from the White House (health experts exempted).  This is not a time to beat around the bush.  The President inspires no confidence at all. Today he talked about an entirely different topic, which ,while notable, was out of place.  He calls the virus the "Chinese Virus" as if he has to blame someone for his lot in the world right now.  He touts his greatness at every turn.  He seems bored by the whole ordeal and is more concerned about the stock market and his economic legacy than the people who are facing long term, traumatic deprivation.

He tells states to figure out their own problems and talks in phrases like the whatever it is. . . ". . .  is good, very good."  Or he denies the possibility of an unemployment rate of 20%...making note that "we're not looking into that".

Vice President Pence's every other sentence is followed by praise of the President.  He too offers no guidance or leadership.  

If you study the Second World War, Roosevelt and Churchill retrofitted daily production operations, turning them into planes, bombs, bullets, ships and every other necessity to defeat Hitler.  And by a magnitude that was a miracle.  In March 2020 all we can talk about is how we don't want to "over stock masks and ventilators...because..."what if you buy them and don't use the."  Also, "the tests are coming. The tests are coming."  Where are they?  Money rules our world.  And by that very fact people will die by default.

Is there no one in DC who can truly lead us now?  If not.  Find somebody!  America will survive.  But at what cost.  Governors are stepping up.  Taking charge.  Where are you and your colleagues?

My Vote Counts

On November 3, 2020 I will vote for the Candidates who most exemplify the following:

Accepts All . . . without caveat
Does not belittle or embarrass his/her opponents
Tells us what is possible and what is not . . . tells the truth
Does not employ mudslinging as a campaign strategy
Works to mend fences internationally and at home
Works for All the people, not just those who vote for them
Aknowledges America's part in the mayhem and hate that exists in our world
Rejoins the Climate Pact and takes immediate action
Stops building walls and listens to the displaced . . . without prejudice
Does not blame whole nations for the actions of a few
Will not seek to be King, but to serve all Americans

In other words, I am looking for a man/woman of integrity.  Who listens to all sides, admits when he/she is wrong and does not belittle or dismiss those who disagree or tell the truth.  Who strives to walk in the shoes of all men/women/children when making decisions.  Who understands that it is not us against them, but us with them that will save our world.  And, most of all, who attends to the voices of the young, for they are our future!  They see what we fear to see.  They act while we argue. They will inherit what we leave them.  They expect more. They deserve more!

Below is "who" I  will vote for.  And I will display it proudly!

The Trump Administration on this day . . . February 8, 2020

On February 5, 2020, President Trump was a acquitted of two Articles of Impeachment: #1-Abuse of Power and #2-Obstruction of Justice pertaining to withholding of congressional-approved military aid to the Ukraine in exchange for, (1) investigation of the Bidens and the alleged Ukraine influence in the 2016 elections; and, (2) refusal to release documents germane to the proceedings or to allow subpoenas to be fulfilled.

The President was Impeached by the House of Representatives late in 2019.  An undertaking led by Congressional Democrats.  The recent Senate trial ended without witnesses; and the final vote was along party lines--save GOP Senator. Mitt Romney, who, in a rare act of personal courage, voted to impeach and remove his President from office on Article one: Abuse of Power.


On November 11, 2016 I wrote a Post encouraging our new president to create an inclusive and just administration.  And I wished him the best as he undertook his duties. 

Below is an excerpt from that Post.  In my mind, he has failed us miserably.  If you hold the following as true, what say you now?



"Dear President Trump,

. . . Are you ready to act with restraint, instead of anger?  Are you ready to forego the pithy one-liners and take the time to frame your comments so as to calm and unite?  Now secure in the White House, can you set aside your personal beliefs to attend to another's unlike beliefs in a gesture of compromise?

It is said that you do not fail, ever...I say, President Trump, that you are already set to fail unless you create a diverse cabinet and set of advisers--made up of "yay-sayers" and "nay-sayers" of every ethnic, religious and gender background.

If your are sincere in your desire to unite America, you must stand outside Democratic and Republican boundaries and embrace the Whole nation.  Every citizen young and old.  You must take the time to explain to Americans that no single person or group can have it their way all the time; that you will identify and address the country's greatest needs first and foremost, thereby creating a bridge between opposing parties and ideologies.

If those trampled down are not lifted up, you have failed.  If the rich get richer and poor, poorer, you have failed.  If people cannot afford education, healthcare and the basics of daily living and sustenance, you have failed.   If under your guidance the world becomes more volatile, you have failed.  If the misplaced and displaced continue to go homeless and abandoned, you have failed.

To unite, you must invest in the tools of kindness, compassion and forgiveness.  Weapons of mass destruction and precision have no place here. . . .

ADDENDUM: While the Senate vote merely pounds another nail into our critically wounded Democracy, I am most troubled by the millions of Americans who don't seem to care what our president says: that it is okay to molest women, that All Hispanics are potential drug addicts, rapists and murderers.  A man who disparages entire cultures for the actions of the few.  Who abandons allies who gave their lives in the fight against Isis...I speak of the Kurds.  Who believes assassination is acceptable...the outcome of which ends in the loss of over 100 innocent lives.  And worst of all, who uses Executive Power as if he were King!

A man who takes revenge, verbally and otherwise, on those who disagree with him.  A man who pushes us to the edge of world war by touting American might and weaponry.  Who daily disparages someone, somewhere.

Arrogance is not character trait that makes a good leader.  Wealth does not make a good leader.  Lying does not make a good leader.  But this is what we have in the White House, along with attendants who happily perpetuate the same in his name.

Remember, America, that we are not that far from Russia, China, North Korea or the Middle East.  We are not without risk of nuclear disaster on our own soil.  Worst of all, as long as this man is in the White House, nuclear destruction is a real possibility.

In the same vane, Global warming is a living breathing reality.  Greta Thunburg is breath of freshness in the midst of powerful world leaders without backbone to do the right thing.

Because of executive orders, our natural areas and parks are in danger of commercial development which will turn them into high rise motels and parking lots.

The poor grow in numbers.  Health care remains unaffordable.  Low income and part time jobs pay a fraction of the cost of living.  College debt is deplorable.  All of which are a disgrace in a nation that prides itself on the maxim ". . . life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all."

What do you want for your children and grandchildren?  What are you leaving them?  Do you really want them to be like our President?  If you do, I weep for you!  And, I weep for them!

"Why?"

Why are we afraid  . . .

. . . of kindness, trust, honesty and compassion as a way of life--a way of political diplomacy?

Why is . . . 

. . . the Left wrong and the Right, right?  Or visa versa?

Why do . . .

. . . we still believe our leaders will save us?  We must save ourselves.

Greta Thunberg is a beacon of light in a lopsided world.  The thing about billions of people being off kilter is that such a light will scatter to places it might not otherwise reach.  Greta understands that the world will change only if she and we stand up to be counted--not by words alone, but by actions of love, acceptance, non-judgment, peace and the embracing of world citizenship.

The Democrats are risking their political careers to bring to light the clear misdeeds of a President unsuited for office.  If their efforts fall on the deaf ears of their opponents, then millions of voters must take up their work and see it through on election day.

Courage is not easy.  Courage is hard.  No one is perfect, but each of us knows, if only deep within, when a wrong has been done.  A President serves at the behest of the people.  He is not above the people or the law.

If he is...he is a King!  Right  now we are  perilously close to such a state of affairs in Washington, DC.  Many of our elected leaders act as a Whole, not as individuals with a conscience that weighs, without bias, what has been presented.

America will survive as a piece of earth situated in North America.  But will we survive as a living, breathing Democracy where no single person is a law unto themselves?

HATE

We Humans are the only species on earth that hate. We are also the only species completely in charge of our own destinies.

America is the greatest experiment in world history.  It is no accident that we are geographically removed from all other continents.  You might say we were given this piece of earth so that we could not only imagine the concept of a free and equal society, but also make it reality.

No one ever believed it would be easy.  No one ever believed it would happen quickly, or without dissension and angst.  Ideas are starting points: the Title of the novel, if you will. And this particular novel is not yet finished.  In fact, it is fair to say it will never be finished.

In 1861 President Lincoln pronounced that "a country divided against itself cannot stand." Thus began the Civil War.  Six-hundred-twenty thousand combatants died.  Some 50,000 civilians perished along with them.

It was a bitter time in our country and it ended with the assassination of Lincoln on April 14, 1865, just five days after the surrender of Confederate forces on April 9th.

While there was more than one reason for the Civil War, at its apex was slavery.  The perceived right of some individuals to own others whom they thought inferior.  Even Lincoln considered the black man and woman less than he and his counterparts.  But Lincoln also believed that every person had the "inalienable" right to chart their own destiny; and that no man or woman should be held in chains, or otherwise, against his or her will.

The Civil War set the black man and woman free, but it was a tortured freedom that continued to kill and abuse them for nearly one-hundred additional years.  Then, on two separate occasions in 1955, Claudette Colvin and Rosa Parks refused to give up their seats on a bus to a white person. Soon the movement for Black rights, Civil Rights, gained momentum.  Its chosen leader was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.  Forty-one people lost their lives during those trying years, which fatefully ended with the assassination of Dr. King, in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968.

We are humans first and Americans second.  "American" is a title that places us within a certain group, which in turn supposedly distinguishes us (one could say "separates us") from other groups with different names.  But every person on earth was Human first; and only humans--all seven billion-plus working together--can rid the world of hate.

Sadly, in 2019 hate looms larger than it has in many decades.  In America and many other parts of the educated and free world, individuals and groups are rising once again to question who deserves to be a part of their exclusive groups, who is worthy of their respect and who deserves their disdain.

The Internet and the Cell phone make every voice available every moment of every day. And we humans are easy prey to the spoken or texted word.  In turn, we often blindly accept as absolute truth that which is said by those we support or admire.  In the process, we surrender our own voices, our own thoughts. Our natural inclination to question. To step back and listen. To consider.  To not judge.  

To make up our own minds.

The first people to settle in North America are known today as "Native Americans": The rest of us came later and from somewhere else: among these peoples were the Spanish, French, Irish, Germans, Italians, Chinese, Japanese, Russians, Southeast Asians, Cubans, Mexicans, Jews, Indians and Middle Easterners.  In other words, a sampling of the richness of the whole world has made its home somewhere in the U.S.  We once touted ourselves as the "melting pot" of the world.  Today it has become a "dirty word."

When our founding fathers penned the phrase "all men are created equal", they did not say "except . . .."  No such caveat was appended.  Many respected scientists would add that we all originated from a common Mother who lived somewhere in Africa.  That possibility alone should give us pause to reconsider how we view each other and the world.

So why do we continue to hate those unlike us on the outside?  Why do we believe that people from certain countries are thieves, rapists and useless?  Did the Civil War, Civil Rights and Gay right's battles teach us nothing?  Do we really want to spend our days and nights hating others while the world is begging us to focus our energies elsewhere?

Our children and their children are inheriting a world that desperately needs cooperation, tolerance and compassion. And these are but the starting points.  Future generations will have little time to hate.  They will be too busy dealing with our current sluggish response to a planet devastated by division and reckless use of resources.

Global warming is a fact, even if we don't want to admit it.  The world's population is growing by the Billions.  Money cannot solve these problems because it cannot rid the world of division. It cannot rid it of hate.  Only human actions can.

Hate is a weapon as deadly as a gun. And on this day, July 17, 2019, we are a nation divided against ourselves.  We have no functioning Democracy.  On one side stand the Democrats and their followers.  On the other, the Republicans and their followers.  All other parties melt into the landscape.

Thankfully, newer members of Congress are speaking their minds.  They have made it clear that they value our founding fathers’ dream; and they will not be silenced.  They are searching, as are many Americans and the rest of the world, for the once-was concept called the "American Dream."  They were not elected to be a part of “group think."  They were elected to get us back on track.

I congratulate them for their courage.  And I stand with them in their fight to find Democracy and restore it to its rightful place.

As song writer Irving Berlin wrote so many years ago--the text of which is etched into America's most cherished icon, the Statue of Liberty, which in turn welcomed thousands of refugees and immigrants to our Eastern shores: 

"Give me your tired, your poor

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore

Send these the homeless tempest-tost to me

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

Pittsburgh

To end the violence, love each other.  Do not judge, for once you judge, you lock the door to friendship and understanding.

Lay down your guns and extend the hand of acknowledgment to a stranger.  If you are afraid of another, pause to see the fear in his or her eyes.

Throughout history we have employed two tools to confront fear:

Weapons

and

Love

Weapons in the hands of the powerful are quick and deadly.  They create terror among those upon whom they are unleashed.  Weapons perpetuate violence.  They do not heal; they divide.

Love needs no arsenal.  It is readily available to all.  It comes from the quiet place we call "heart".  It is sometimes shy, uncertain.  Sometimes bold and invigorating.  It builds bridges.  It walks in another's footsteps so that it can share another's pain, abandonment and humanity.  It realizes that we are more alike than different.  That we each desire life, hope, home, food and safety.

Love is everywhere, but we find little mention of it in public discourse and media.

When has casting stones back and forth ever created unity and cooperation?

In the end, it is up to us, you and I.  It always was and it always will be.  Most of us may not be in any Who's Who, but we are no less remarkable human beings.  And we are powerful!

Love today--right where you stand. Share a smile.  A compliment.  Buy coffee or breakfast for a stranger. Stop to let a car in front of you. "Walk ten steps" in a friend's, colleague's, spouse's, child's shoes before you speak in rebuke. Learn to think love.  Touch your breastbone and say "heart" each time you are challenged by people and events.

Send out good thoughts and support, even when it's an effort, until it becomes your first and only response.

"#Heart."  "#Heart."  "#Heart."

2017 New Year, New Day

In 2016 we elected Donald Trump President of the United States.  Those who voted for him expect him to make their lives better.  Every President has, more or less, been elected under the same mandate.

History, however, tells a different story.  The world in which we live was built  by us, you and I, the common people.  And only you and I can make it better.  If you want a better life and a safer, kinder world, then start by changing the environment in which you live.  Begin with kindness, compassion, trust and forgiveness.  Elect leaders who exhibit these in abundance.  Without this foundation, nothing can change.

In turn, our leaders are human beings like ourselves.  They will never meet all our expectations because such a feat is impossible for any single person.

And finally, remember, a CEO of a corporation has employees who answer to him.  The President answers to Us.

Our World, not his.  Our life, not his.  Our future, not his.

If you really want a better world, only you have the power to make it so!

"Dear President Trump,"

. . . Are you ready to act with restraint, instead of anger?  Are you ready to forego the pithy one-liners and take the time to frame your comments so as to calm and unite?  Now secure in the White House, can you set aside your personal beliefs to attend to another's unlike beliefs in a gesture of compromise?

It is said that you do not fail, ever...I say, President Trump, that you are already set to fail unless you create a diverse cabinet and set of advisers--made up of "yay-sayers" and "nay-sayers" of every ethnic, religious and gender background.

If your are sincere in your desire to unite America, you must stand outside Democratic and Republican boundaries and embrace the Whole nation.  Every citizen young and old.  You must take the time to explain to Americans that no single person or group can have it their way all the time; that you will identify and address the country's greatest needs first and foremost, thereby creating a bridge between opposing parties and ideologies.

If those trampled down are not lifted up, you have failed.  If the rich get richer and poor, poorer, you have failed.  If people cannot afford education, healthcare and the basics of daily living and sustenance, you have failed.   If under your guidance the world becomes more volatile, you have failed.  If the misplaced and displaced continue to go homeless and abandoned, you have failed.

To unite, you must invest in the tools of kindness, compassion and forgiveness.  Weapons of mass destruction and precision have no place here. . . .

WHAT ARE RELIGIOUS BELIEFS?

Perhaps now is the time in our history to ask the question: what is a belief and should that belief be legalized by law?

I submit that beliefs are personal.  Therefore, I do not agree that these beliefs should be legalized as correct, irrefutable, or the only way to see a person, place or thing.

In our country right now, religious beliefs are being placed ahead of all other beliefs, and in turn, are being given legal status over and above the fundamental premise of our country, which promises to afford equal access to all without discrimination.

A religious belief is a personal conviction that has evolved over time after having been sorted through by various human beings from many alternate possibilities.  These same beliefs are regularly open to reinterpretation as times and people change. In most instances, certain religious beliefs are a requirement of membership in various churches and congregations.  And it is fair to say that no two churches believe the exact same dogma, although many claim a common history.

America's "freedom of speech" allows one to speak his beliefs through words and through protest (actions), but when it comes to legally denying another citizen that which is accessible to everyone not of the particular group in question, a dangerous line is crossed, and one group is denied equal access over another.

We must not legalize a belief in a free land.  Hitler legalized beliefs.  Mussolini legalized beliefs. Apartheid legalized beliefs.  Slavery was a legalized belief.

Each of the above denied another person or group that which the denier enjoyed to the fullest.

We cannot, we must not, take this route.

Compassion, tolerance, openness, and knowledge.  These first.

And always: Do no harm, do not judge (the most oft forgot religious belief).

The 2016 Elections

Much is being said about the 2016 elections.  Very little of it is positive.  After years of congressional stalemate, rising social despair as a result of an inept process and the stonewalling of one party against another, one would think we lived in a "cold war" state with one "monarchy forever challenging the other for absolute political power.  Even the Supreme Court has become a bastion of partisan politics.

Only in a deeply dissatisfied nation could the likes of a Donald Trump find audience for his oft offensive and divisive language.  To be clear, we are a deeply divided, scared and worn out body politic.

For decades Americans have been subjected to the same'ole-same''ole come election time.  With politicians rarely answering questions put to them, employing mud-slinging in lieu of debate, and making promises, promises, promises with no obvious plan in hand.

American Democracy has transformed into Hypocrisy--one party against another, with neither willing to give a centimeter of ground.  Whoever is elected to the White House the target of relentless opposition and threats from day one.

Executive and legislative cooperation happens only under threat of political annihilation at the polls.

We blame the Middle East for its strong religious undercurrent, where the Ayatollah is the supreme leader in many countries.  But how are we different, when the word "Evangelical Christian" determines what one party will or will not do.

Religious freedom is one of  many freedoms we enjoy as Americans, but somehow we have raised religious freedom above all the rest.  We have made it a litmus test for making it to the white house.  We have lost out way...we are no longer a government of the People, by the People and for the People.

We have become a government of the few, for the few and by the few.  The Conservative stands on one side, the Liberal on the other.   There appears to be no in-between.  These categories have been tightly defined over time and now they threaten to destroy us.

Rational individuals with a wider world view realize that the U.S. is awash with millions of ideas and beliefs. We are neither a conservative nor a liberal nation.  Nor are we a christian or non-christian nation.  We are an amalgamation of peoples, all of whom came from somewhere else.

America began as a beacon of hope for a new way.  And how we got here is an interesting story, but right now it would be best to focus on where we are and how we move out of this hole we've dug ourselves into.

Donald Trump's popularity is not because he will make a great president.  Donald Trump's popularity owes its appeal to the inability of those running for office to speak from the heart and not from the prompter.  To speak the truth, even if the truth is hard to speak

First, we must accept the fact that no president ever solved all of our problems.  Our form of government does not give him/her that much power.

Second, not every member of congress is a political insider whose only goal is reelection and power.

Third, we have lost the ability to compromise with those who disagree with us.

Fourth, millions do not vote, and yet voting is the best way to express your support for, or you dissatisfaction with, the current state of affairs.

The Government works for Us.  The People.  We do not work for it.  That being said, we as individuals cannot have everything we want.  Only the castaway on a deserted island has that option, and even s/he is subject to the will of mother nature.

In the end, laws, systems, and organizations do not make a better world, people do.  If our government is failing us, then people are at fault.  If your idea of a good president is one who will give You what you want because you believe your way is the best way, then you are part of the problem.  All of us fall into the category at one time or the other.

Donald Trump is a wake-up call for America.  He speaks to our darker side.  He draws it out.  He thrives upon it.

I will tell you now that America's greatness is not lost, we are just looking in the wrong place.  America's greatness is in her actions, not in her words.  Her compassion.  Her stand for human rights.  Her humanitarian generosity.  Her undying, though sometimes faltering, ideal of a better, more tolerant world.

This is, and has always been, our greatness and no one can take it from us unless we give it away!

CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY

The Greatest Crimes against Humanity are . . .

Poverty
Starvation
Isolation
Displacement by wars perpetrated by the few
Ethnic erasure...the bullying and murder of those not like us

What will it take to change this eon's long pattern?

A Question of Guns in a land of Murder

San Bernardino California.  Fourteen killed.  Assault rifles.  Two dead suspects.  Public pain. Private mourning.  Youth and wisdom gone Forever. 

Appeals for stiffer gun laws countered by "people kill people", guns are only ancillary.  The President appearing before us numb and dejected.  Nobody knows what to do or how to stop the kind of violence that erupts suddenly and without mercy.

In sum, our collective response has become "speechlessness".  We are not one iota closer to resolution than we were hundreds of years ago when terror struck.  And terror has been around since humans have been around.

Instead, we spend endless hours debating whether San Bernardino was an "act of terrorism" or not?  What the shooters motives really were?  But they are dead.  And terror struck--need it have another name?

In today's world there is no safe haven.  Armed militia roam our streets and schools. They lend an aura of safety, but do they keep us safe?

So then, you say, what should we do?  If we cannot stop the violence, should we prepare to die on an undisclosed day at an unknown location?  Should we get our affairs in order?  Live our lives to the fullest? Give ourselves over to the unstoppable?  Or should we pray for new weapons of defense, better technology, and smarter leaders?

I say no to all of the above.  For the above is what we have always done.  And nothing has changed.  In fact, one might argue, it has only gotten worse.

Sow trust, compassion, forgiveness, a smile, and a helping hand wherever you are and as often as you can. These actions do not involve money, power, guns, fear, doubt or revenge. They are positive tokens one gives freely to another.  Tokens that can then be passed on even if the giver is unaware that they have done so.

Such acts are already occurring throughout our globe, but infrequently do we hear or read of them.  We sorely need more stories in the media about the Good News.  Positive actions that brings warmth and light back into our damaged world.

People who kill people through acts of terror have lost their way.  Every ethnicity and religion has fallen victim to their acts.  Anger, hate and fear are deadly weapons.  Our job is to replace them with their opposites.  Not for one day or one year, but as a way of life going forward every moment of every day!

Pharmaceutical Companies and Pricing of Drugs, Among Other Things

Recently, my doctor gave me a couple of samples of time-release Naprosin with an added ingredient to offset stomach upset.  Naprosin has been around for years and is used to treat pain from arthritis and similar conditions.  The drug my doctor prescribed is called Vumovo.

You may recall last week that the media was abuzz with the outrageous pricing of a drug called Daraprim. Its bold, new owner had raised the price from $13 to over $700 dollars a pill.  One of the articles regarding this story included a list of other drugs with a similar histories (but no outright media frenzy).

Yes, you guessed it.  At the bottom of the list was Vumovo.  This drug once retailed for $200/60 pills, until the pharmaceutical company decided to raise it to $1683/60 pills.  Had I not seen the article, I would have asked my doctor to order a prescription.  Of course I would have refused to pay for it at the counter and the pharmacy would be left to restock it.

When I mentioned this situation to a friend, she asked:  "Isn't it illegal?  And I said, no!"  Diabetes, pain meds, tuberculosis, cancer, and antipsychoic meds are but a few of the drugs/treatments that companies overprice.

At its new price, Daraprim would cost about $252,000 a year for 360 pills.  Vumovo, $10,098 for 360 pills. I know of at least one instance when a single Chemo treatment cost $100,000.  Pharmaceutical companies do these things because they can--get away with it.

I have since asked my physician for an alternative to Vumovo and she has provided it, being none-to-pleased with the drug company herself.  I now take two pills instead of one.  A ninety-day supply of both drugs is $20/180 pills.  Over a year that's $80.

What troubles me most is that this travesty of humanity is but one instance of the insanity of greed, and that we, the consumer, often feel no recourse to complain.  Not everyone can switch to another drug.  Not everyone can say "I just won't take it."  For many, the drug is an absolute necessity.  Diabetics, people with cancer, mental illness, and drug resistant TB for instance.

Over the years we humans have lost control of our very lives.  Lost control because we didn't see it happening until it was too late.

Government takes our hard earned money and spends it willy-nilly.  If we refuse to pay taxes in protest, the IRS comes after us.  It's not a pretty scene.  They don't let up and they have a LOT of power to say--freeze your assets or empty your bank account.

Those who attend big sports events are very familiar with "event parking".  Here, price gouging is raised to an art form.  Want to go to the game?  Pay the going rate. The defenders call it the result of "limited" parking. That's nonsense. The same amount of spaces exist event or no event.  It's just a way to make a bundle of money at the expense of the sports fan who needs a place to put his/her car.

Movie theaters have for eons overcharged on snacks and drinks.  We pay.  Our blood pressure may rise twenty points, but we pay.

Recently it cost a relative of mine $30 to have a taillight changed.

A few weeks ago the labor to cut and lay tile down and remove the old tile was quoted at $4,000.  This in a 1500 sq ft house, the area being tiled about 150 sq feet.

And last, but not least, I have gluten intolerance.  A couple of months ago I went out to breakfast and ordered gluten free toast.  When the bill came, the toast was $6/2 slices.

A loaf of gluten free bread is about $6.  It has about 14 slices of bread.  Three dollars times 14 slices equals $42.  Instead of a tip, I left a note protesting the cost.  Here the server got penalized.

I don't always stand up for my rights, but of late I've done more standing and less sitting on my hands.

The world in which we live (a common theme with me) is created by us, you and me.  While we have been hoodwinked by corporations and government, that doesn't mean we have to take it.

In a capitalist society the pocketbook talks.  Speak up, not by shouting or throwing things, or loosing your temper.  Speak boldly, succinctly and proudly, but speak, as much as you can and as often as you can.  Go to places that are fair to their customers and their employees.  Buy products that are fairly priced.  Ask for alternatives to price-gouging drugs whenever possible.  Just because your insurance may pick up the tab doesn't make it right.  Someone else will pay for it down the line.  Eventually your insurance rates will rise.

The cost of living is over the heads of millions.  The great Titanic sank because one too many watertight compartments split open.  America is the richest country in the world  China is next.  The latter is struggling to hold its economy together, but there may not be enough lifeboats, as with the Titanic.  The former is about 18 trillion of dollars in debt and about to raise its debt limit.   Who will pay it back?  Your grandchildren!

There are more part-time and poorly paid jobs in America than ever before and, overall, there are fewer jobs.  Job security it non-existent, even in government.  More than one state teeters on bankruptcy.

We are one watertight compartment from sinking.  If you don't believe me, look at congress and its inability to get anything done.

You and me, folks!  You and me.

JUST BECAUSE WE CAN ...

Over the past couple of months I have heard comments regarding the future of certain technologies that will deeply impact the world in which we live.  The first are Robots, which can, and already are, replacing or assisting humans in a wide variety of tasks.  The second are driverless cars. Which are in the test mode as we speak.  Thirdly, the ability to clone a sheep is but one step away from cloning Us. Choosing the "perfect" human being without its attendant foibles and predispositions toward lethal or debilitating maladies.

The human mind is infinite in its ability to think up and then figure out how to put each thought into motion.  If it makes a lot of money, all the more reason to move on to development and sale.  Right?

This Blog is about human genius pitted against what is best for humanity today and generations to come.

JUST BECAUSE WE CAN...should we?  JUST BECAUSE WE CAN...must we?

The Robot, it has been predicted, will eventually do the menial jobs.  The lifting and toting, the repetitive jobs, the "labor" jobs.  Millions of Americans make a living at these jobs right now, but in the future, say the "futurists", these same individuals will have to reinvent themselves.  Maybe become  entrepreneurs who "invent two or three jobs" to put bread on the table.  "Entrepreneurs" because there will not be enough jobs to go around.

Driverless cars can enable the blind and disabled to "drive" from point A to point B.  They can deliver packages and food and every other manner of goods to far flung areas.  Thus eliminating the need for long-distance truck drivers.  Of course these driverless semis will be met by Robots at the other end, thus solving the problem of who will unload the freight.

As for cloning, wouldn't the world be better if we could genetically manage it's progeny.  Do away with disease, evil acts, and the undesirable?

I'd  like to think that our first considerations when inventing and then selling a new idea or product would be:  How will they impact my children and my childrens' children?  Will they make life better, safer, happier, more secure?  Will elimination of jobs create more poverty, more dis-ease, more war?  Will driverless cars further overburden our roads and highways, which are falling apart daily from overuse.

Will we ever be able to clone the perfect human?  What is the perfect human anyway?  And who gets to decide?  The cloners?  Do you we really want to live in a Stepford world?

Yes, Robots  might be useful in performing tasks humans no longer want to do, but shouldn't those same humans be the ones to decide, not the one who invents the possibility?

As for driverless cars.  Wouldn't it be better to devise ways to move people from A to B to C in mass transportation instead, and reduce cars and their attendant pollution?

The bottom line is, JUST BECAUSE WE CAN, does not mean it is wise or  humane; it just means we can.  Humans created the Bomb because they couldn't resist doing so.  Then we dropped it on Nagasaki and Hiroshima.  Thousands of innocents died ignominious deaths.  We haven't dropped a bomb since.  We dropped it because we could.  Now we have 16,000 nuclear weapons worldwide--just because we can.

Today's children are growing up in a world that is moving at warp speed.  Immediate gratification is a near reality with I-Phones and the Internet.  Games are played on handheld devices instead of in the backyard.  XBox has replaced outdoor basketball and baseball.

Technology is here to stay.  It arrived with the printing press and has accelerated humankind's ability to do and know beyond any cave dwellers wildest imagination.  In turn, no one can deny that technology has its place, but every invention, no matter how unique, must be approached with caution.

JUST BECAUSE WE CAN does not mean we will, or, more importantly, that we should!

SUFFERING

Why do we suffer?  

Why do we inflict suffering upon others?  

Can we change this pattern in our world?

I believe we can.  

If we lived in a world that abhorred suffering in all its forms, suffering would no longer exist.

I speak of all manner of suffering: that which is self-inflicted, that which occurs because of accident or random violence, that which is purposely imposed by courts and tribunals, that which catches us unawares, such as illness.

We live in a world that is not only filled with suffering, but also constructed about a system that guarantees its perpetuation.

We have 16,000 nuclear weapons stockpiled in world arsenals.  We believe in the maxim "an eye for an eye", and mete out so-called justice accordingly.  We wish to impose the greatest punishment upon those who inflict the most grievous pain.  We strive mightily to design a retribution that is equal to the act inflicted upon us.  We call this Justice; the law agrees.

In our anger and pain, we cannot see the lasting implications of all our hatred and vengeance. We choose not to see that it has changed nothing in our world.  It has not made it safer, more humane, or more loving.  It has, instead, created an "armed camp" waiting for the next terrorist to strike us down on some unknown day, in some unknown place, at some unknown time.

We believe in guns and armaments, the more sophisticated the better, until all our battles are fought by drones and robots.  The innocent will still die, while the "soldiers" will simply fall apart or into disrepair.

What have I done today to make a better world?  A less painful world.  What is behind my anger and my pain?  

The core of the world's pain is rarely examined.  James Holmes committed a heinous act. Innocent people died and were maimed.  James Holmes suffered from a brain disease that influenced his actions.  One juror held out for life in prison instead of the death penalty.

Our mental health system is in shreds.  It is poorly funded and lacking in trained professionals. Burnout is high.  There is rarely any intermediate recovery care for those released from acute care.  They either go home (if they have one), to the streets, or, too often, to jail.  This is one of the single most distressing issues facing mentally diseased individuals.  The majority of such individuals do not kill; we must be clear about this.  But some few do.

Beyond the failing system, is the stigma of mental disease, which often keeps families and victims from first, admitting it exists, and secondly, taking action to get help.

The U.S. is awash with guns.  The more the President and various individuals try to reign them in, the more they proliferate.  

We must get rid of our guns.  Now!  Of course this is drastic, but it is absolutely necessary.  We must get rid of our bombs as well.  All of them!  Nuclear proliferation treaties are like putting a raincoat on the ocean.  It is too big, too powerful and too unpredictable.

We must replace judgment with trust.  Now!  Once you judge a person, you eliminate the chance to ever truly know them.  

Suffering exists because we feed it daily on an international scale and locally on a personal level.  We often do so unknowingly by a snide remark or gesture.  Every action, be it internal or external, ripples across the globe like the flutter of a butterfly's wings.  Throw a handful of dirt into the wind and it will blow back at you.

Tomorrow is too late!  

BELIEFS

It is perhaps time in our human history to  pause and take a serious look at "beliefs"...in some circles, the term is capitalized simply by the weight and power afforded to it by its holders.

Some beliefs are standard practice.  Do not harm a child.  Do not kill the innocent.  Do not steal another's possessions.  Do not cheat.  Do not lie.  

Some beliefs are subjective, i.e., personal views of the world--beliefs that are often contrary to that of a neighbor, colleague, or family member.

In America, there are many different beliefs.  Even individuals with similar beliefs might express them in different ways.

The reason I am writing about "beliefs" is because the world we live in is ruled by them.  One of the most profound of all being religious Beliefs--the capital word is most suitable here.

The question I pose to you the reader, is why are religious beliefs given more weight than most any other belief?  Why do they garner so much power?  Why are we ruled by them, cursed by them, and too oft, destroyed by them?

When personal belief's become societal beliefs (not that all of society abides these beliefs), do they become more true?  Are they not still subjective beliefs held by a great number of people?  And as such, should they be given any more than respect?

A prior Blog looked at beliefs in respect to gay rights and suggested that one is entitled to believe anything he or she chooses, but draws a line at imposing (and having the law concur) them on others not so inclined.

This blog is here as food for thought.  In a pluralistic society, the unfettered power of one is contrary to democracy.  Religion is a belief system.  And I propose it is no more nor less than any other.

Capitalism

What is Capitalism?

To a poor man or woman, it is the unattainable.

To Karl Marx, it was greed.

To the wealthy, it is the reward for hard work and unfettered risk taking.

To politicians, it is the answer to all society's ills--albeit through very different lenses.

In truth, Capitalism is none of the above.  It is, first and foremost, an unruly system thrust into the hands of human beings without instructions or guideposts.  It is, to paraphrase Adam Smith, an "every man/woman for him/herself" kind of system.  And because it is a System, it has no feelings, no desires, no disappointments and no worries.

In most every other human interaction systems are governed by human being.  Not so with Capitalism.   Capitalism is the ruling Monarchy, the disguised dictatorship, the golden goose, the brass ring, the winner takes all, the no holds barred.

You get the picture.

When a pro athlete signs a 145 million dollar, three year contract and a pro golfer takes home nearly 2 million dollars for five days of sport, while 20 percent of Oregon's children live in poverty, one must ask, what is money, really?

When an employer says "this is all I can offer you," and yet that employer takes in millions, perhaps, billions of dollars a year over and above its expenses, a wide-awake human being should be appalled.

Yet, everyday people take poverty level, minimum wage jobs--which seem to be growing by leaps and bounds--the very same people who keep our corporations going from the ground floor up, and without whom these same corporations would have to close their doors.

I believe the day is coming when major world economies will crumble into giant heaps, buried under vast debt and speculation, immense greed and unrealistic ideals.

No one is worth 145 million dollars when over 1 billion of our world's children still live in poverty. One person living in poverty one single second longer is one second too many!  Charity cannot not sustain them.  Soup kitchens and food pantries do not give them lasting security.  They provide a meal for a day with no promise that another will be forthcoming tomorrow or the day after.  In turn, no one with a job today is guaranteed it will be there tomorrow.  And if you can't afford the necessities, you must chosse debt or go without.

How can we so idolize such a system?  Why are our greatest minds not focused on a new, more realistic one?  One that sees money as merely a tool to providing life's needs in equal measure to all.

A world built on debt and speculation, on mega corporations and the race to become billionaires so that we can possess more of the same and dispose of it with abandon, cannot stand forever.  An equilateral triangle will hold its point erect in perpetuity.  But in economics, that same triangle, with the wealthiest at the top and the poorest at the bottom, will eventually wither away at its roots until even this indestructible system must decay from lack of care.

The Naysayers regarding the Right to Marry

Yesterday was a joyous one for the gay community (June 26, 2015), but it was a troubling day for humanity as a whole.  

We come into this world a bundle of unknowns; the labels  "heterosexual" and "homosexual” are added sometime around puberty.  We don't go to Wal Mart and buy them for ourselves; they are "bestowed" upon us by a supposedly "all-wise" society, many of whom believe that such divisions really matter.

Yesterday, five members of the U S Supreme Court said that all people are equal, and entitled unequivocally to the privileges provided under our form of government.  

Marriage began as a consensual ritual formed centuries ago to set certain couples apart from others.  Over time it has gathered an abundance of legal and personal privileges.  Marriage has, and continues, to symbolize commitment between two individuals who love each other and who want to spend their lives together.  Just because marriage has traditionally been between men and woman, does not mean that it cannot include same sex couples.  

Marriage was “closed” by the courts and the Congress only recently, but  historical habit must not prohibit change and adaptation.

As regards the Bible--Jesus welcomed all to his table, without caveat, and yet most of the bias against gay marriage is religiously based.

A "belief system" is just that, something one believes.  Beliefs are not set in stone; they evolve and change over time.  Once there was a place the Roman Catholic Church called Limbo, an amorphous realm situated between Heaven and Hell where residents waited to be called to one side or the other.  Now, it does not exist at all.

I am a person first.  Do not label me.  Do not tell me I am less (or more) than you.  Do not assume that just because you do not like me or my lifestyle that you have the right to deny me the same choices you enjoy every day.

What is equality?  What is justice?  What does the phase "liberty and justice for all," mean?

Our country was founded on the above ideals.  Our founding fathers were centered on a vision of a better world.  They had no idea how that vision would play out over the centuries. They set up their ideals boldly, but those ideals had one shortsighted pitfall....they began with what those same men could comfortably negotiate.  Only landowning men could vote.  Slavery remained in place.  Though the dream of equality burned brightly, they were ill-prepared to afford it to all.

The U S Supreme Court justices who voted in favor of marriage for all understand that "government of the people" is a fine, noble ideal, but they also realize that no government can neglect minority rights while it waits for the majority to change their hearts and minds.

Equality has been "urged along" throughout our history; it has been urged along because people suffer when it is not.  This momentum has been acted out through legal statute often accompanied by public protest, and sadly, violence: The Emancipation Proclamation, the Black vote, the Women's vote, biracial marriage, and now, gay marriage.  

Equality cannot be parceled out when one is happy, amenable, or religiously or emotionally ready.  Equality is the foundation of America.  It is supposedly why our soldiers go to other countries to fight and die.  We hold America high and say, "be like us.  Free!!! 

By our actions will they know us, not by our words.

ou

Historic U S Supreme Court Rulings

On June 25, 2015, the U S Supreme Court ruled in favor of Affordable Care Act subsidies that provide less able individuals with the resources necessary to purchase health insurance at a price closer to what they can afford.

On June 26, 2015, the U S Supreme Court said that liberty and justice for all is a sacred right that can be denied to no U S citizen.  

Though these historic decisions were not unanimous, they are non-the-less law.  

Today, those with limited resources have access to health care.  The naysayers in Congress would dearly love to gut the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and replace it with something better.  They have yet to define or even propose an alternative.  The ACA is not perfect.  The mandate to purchase insurance is an onerous one that punishes those with the least resources.  It does not address economic inequality in our country. It is a band aid over an enormous problem whose woes are old and profound and have nothing at all to do with health care.  Nonetheless, the ACA is a stepping stone, just like Clinton's "don't ask, don't tell" was a stepping stone at a time when anything more would have been nearly impossible.

That being said, the second Supreme Court ruling named above is a giant step for liberty and equality in a nation that still grapples with those words and their deepest meanings.

Today, same sex couples may apply for and receive marriage licenses in all 50 states. Detractors say the federal government has over-stepped its bounds and entered into areas best decided by the people of each state.

But those of us who know prejudice, those of us who have been asked to wait until the majority "see the light" know better.  When the world understands that the majority have no right to withhold liberty, equality and justice from the minority for any reason, then our world will truly have progressed beyond the shadows of ignorant and hurtful darkness into the light of fraternity, compassion, and love.

Religious Freedom Law in Indiana

Religious freedom is a cornerstone of America.  Right up there with all the other freedoms our founding fathers envisioned some 238 years ago.

Indiana Governor Pence says that the law he recently signed does not encourage discrimination, but instead, protects the personal, religious beliefs of all Hosiers.  No one can dispute the upholding of individual beliefs.  Again, a solid American principle.

So, why all the backlash.  Huge corporations threatening to withdraw their business.  The NCAA rethinking the Final Four.  Signs going up in businesses saying "We serve Everyone".

Perhaps things are not as simple as they seem.

Right now the world is locked in mortal battle with disparate groups around the globe who profess a religious faith that they believe is the one true way to salvation.  Whereas Jesus said "love your neighbor as you would love yourself," many churches add caveats, i.e., side comments.  Such as: "Love the sinner, but hate the sin."  Most often applied to the GLBT community.

All of us have difficulty with those things in life we do not understand, especially when we feel they may harm us or our families by their very existence, even if these fears are unproven.  Sometimes these "feelings" become personal beliefs and we find ourselves choosing sides, passing laws, or accepting some while excluding others.

At their most benign, beliefs are private matters born on emotion and fed by ideas (not always our own) and life experience.  "Private" is the key word here.  As an American you may believe what you want, attend the church of your choice, participate in rituals and adopt a creed.

Things get blurry, however, when we take that belief and use it to deny our fellow human beings the same privileges we would go to our death to preserve.  When we reach this point, we have moved from belief to judgment; and this is just one step away from intolerance and hate.  To totally adhere to the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights, one cannot have it both ways.  In other words, we cannot award these privileges only to those we deem worthy.

If a starving man offends your religion for one reason or the other, would you still deny him a hot meal and a place to stay?  If a person chooses to love differently from you, and your religion finds it offensive, would you deny him or her food at your grocery, a cake from your bakery, and best wishes for a long and happy life at his or her wedding?

Use this law to protect those aspects of your religion that affect your right to worship how, when and where you wish and with whom you wish.  But take care not to assume that because of your beliefs you are also entitled to judge another, exclude another, or condemn another publicly.

The New Testament is filled with many, many things, but at its core is  a single thread:  "Judge not lest you be judged.  Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." It couldn't be simpler, my friends.  Do we really need laws to codify common decency and humanity?

Our world's future is begging us to find common ground.  To listen.  To learn. To trust.  To take risks by reaching out to others not like ourselves.  We have tried the other way and it is apparent to all who care to see that it simply does not work!