They said, "No!!"??? No support for 9/11 Heroes

FINALLY!!!!  A politician who speaks up for the American people, not just his political party. Kudos to you Senator Anthony Weiner for speaking up and urging your fellow politicians to vote accordingly.

Are you there God? It's me... Jittery

Dear God,

Please give me the strength to not throw this coffee cup at the TV screen while watching these lame a#s reporters talk to America as if we were stupid.  Please give me patience when listening to a politician, ANY politician, who is supposed to be working for the American people and are talking about reform and a budget but yet will not give you an example of their latest and greatest.  Please keep me calm when the media is talking about our soldiers in numbers and the numbers we have lost are LIVES not numbers!   And finally God, please keep me positive and thinking with an open mind to accept people for who they are and hopefully my good intentions will pass on to others.   Amen

The Winds of War

I am not the best at keeping up with current events, and I am having to re-learn the geography I did not find interesting as a child (though ironically I loved maps). So perhaps my opinion about war is uninformed and naive, and yet nothing I wind up hearing ever sways me: I still hold onto the ?delusion? that there must be a better way to solve conflicts. After all, what respectable psychologist would advocate using rage and weapons to solve our family problems? How many people are in therapy in an attempt to rebuild a life that began with rage and even abuse? Who recovers from this kind of violence without scars? No one. And sometimes people DO NOT recover.

So why is war any different? Why are we deluded into a false sense of security about our nation because we are a super power able to subdue dissenters by killing them. Ok, so I'm simplifying, but I really do not understand how war can be justified. How can I feel ok about all my freedoms when I know the price others paid for them--not only soldiers, but also and particularly native Americans and now civilians from other countries we occupy under the guise of supporting/encouraging democracy.

I fully admit to being ignorant of many things. I am open to enlightenment...to discussion...to opposing viewpoints. I just can't seem to wrap my head (and particularly my heart) around the great damage that is caused by war. Soldiers who return home irreparably damaged and unable to be husbands, wives, parents anymore? Families devastated by seemingly senseless losses? This is democracy?? Really??

I wasn't even thinking about war, but my daughter had gotten out of the pool and was cold...the wind was blowing and she said dramatically, "The Winds of War!"

A Weighty Confession

I had a conversation with an obese woman recently at the pool. She was talking about how her feet get cut up if she doesn't wear special shoes during water aerobics. Then she said, "It wouldn't be so bad if I would lose weight," and proceeded to tell me about her not so successful efforts to do so. "You know," I said, "we all have different ways of carrying our burdens. Yours just shows on the outside." I told her about my own battle with Bulimia 20+ years ago and how it was an invisible battle. Flash forward to this morning, while sipping my Chai. For some reason, the neglected garden, the too-full garage, the unwashed dishes, the myriad of things without a place, and my own inability to get a handle on all things chaotic suddenly brought me some clarity--clarity I didn't even know I needed!! What do you think? Am I hanging onto clutter like some people hang onto weight? Am I bemoaning my inability to get rid of enough things to live a cleanly, moderate life, while keeping blinders on about a few issues that might be psychological in nature? Behind my mask of relative calm and positivity, am I harboring some honest ugliness that I am afraid to express? Hmmmmm.

So let me start by being bold: I dislike a certain member of my family. She is insecure, judgmental and insensitive. I have tried---really, really tried to get close to her and I have tried--really, really tried to take the high road...to give her the benefit of the doubt. But it's past time to be honest about my near-loathing of this person. There! I did it! Celebrate with me?

I've gotta run. I think there is a garage that needs emptying!

Sex offenders - Find out before you judge

This is a touchy subject. Everyone has an opinion about registered sex offenders. Until recently I thought every offender should be branded with their very own scarlet letter. I have now had a change of heart and mindset. I'm sure if you don't know one personally or know someone close to you that knows someone, then you will think just like I did. I want to ask you to keep an open mind.

There have been cases of 17 year old children having intercourse with 16 year old children and the 17 yr. old has been convicted and branded a sex offender because the parents of the 16 yr. old didn't like the 17 yr. old. That 17 year old will be branded a sex offender their whole life. What about the person found guilty of rape and made to register as a sex offender only to find out 20 years later they were innocent of the crime? And then the person who was stupid and the opportunity fell in their lap? That person never would have done anything if the opportunity hadn't fallen on top of them. This person was not a predator, just an opportunistic person. And yes there are those who continue to search and find and repeat their crimes of indecency or assault. These people all broke the law. They all deserve some sort of punishment (except the innocent person that was wrongly convicted). But should they be punished for the rest of their lives under a permanent branding as a sex offender?

Just like the punishment fitting the crime, so should the registration of sex offenders. Why not fit the registration to the persons crime? People who are convicted of murder are not registered anywhere. You can commit a murder and sometimes be let out in 10 years, move and your next door neighbor will never know. But you can commit an sex crime and 30 years later people can still look you up and find exactly where are. Again, just keep an open mind and try and find out what the person was convicted of before assuming the worst.

Jittery Judgement

You know those people that say one thing and then do something completely different? I don't like them. You know those people who make constant excuses for their actions and it's never their fault? I don't like them either. What happened to saying what you mean and taking responsibility for your actions? I'm off to get another cup of coffee.

Sunday evening Dateline NBC

So, I watched this episode of Dateline this evening, as my heart was breaking for these people, poor, unemployed, starving...a few things hit me as 'funny' and I don't mean funny haha, but 'funny' WTF?

I am probably the biggest bleeding heart there is, I cry over the heartbreak of others, sad movies, happy movies, weddings, Hallmark and that Christmas Folgers commercial, and I was sick to my stomach watching this show tonight, thinking what can I do to help?

But here's the 'funny' part. The first lady I noticed something a little off, she works the overnight shift in a donut shop, after all is said and done, she has $20 left...but her fingers were nicely manicured. If I can't feed my family, the last thing I need is a manicure and acrylic nails with a pretty french manicure. Heck, I work full time in a good paying job and even just a plain ol' $10 manicure can sometimes be a splurge for me!

There was also a girl, young 20 something, with 3 kids, the first one came when she was a junior in HS, the second one when she was a senior and I don't know when the 3rd one came along, but a comment was made "the FATHERS (plural) do not help financially" She lives most times in her van, but "sometimes she and the kids can sleep at her grandmas house on the floor." Why can she only sometimes sleep at grandmas? Where is this girl's family? Why didn't someone teach her about birth control? Does she know where babies come from? She said she did, and admitted that sometimes things just happen. Yes young lady and now you live in a van with your 3 babies.

And a man who hasn't had steady work in 10 years? Wow, I see a deeper problem than this economy, this "great recession" is not 10 years old!

The man who broke my heart was the man who felt his 2 pre-teen sons would be better off if her were dead, he's worth more dead than alive because he can't find a job making enough money to care for them but they could collect survivor benefits. Heartbreaking, but he's trying, he's trying to make a better life. Not waiting for it to come to him. That I respect, oh and his nails weren't freshly manicured.

It's clear to me that the people on this episode and many others like them across the country need help. What is our part? Do we have a part? Do we 'owe' them anything? Can we help? Would we be better off by doing so? Please share with me what you think.

Real Friend or Facebook Status?

Here we are...20 something years after high school. Never thought we'd make it through, what with the cliques, the teasing, the lasting or not lasting friendships. What a great time, right? Maybe.

And welcome in technology! We now have facebook, a reminder to the past an open door to connect with old friends...or maybe a chance to make new ones. Or an even better chance to show just how popular you STILL are by the number of friends you've collected on facebook.

In the beginning, I thought the number of friends I had was some kind of social status..then I started reading their posts and realized something...I didn't like you 20 years ago...I STILL DON'T. You are still an opinionated creep! You are still a self righteous fool. You still don't matter to me.

I have since "unfriended" the people I, a) didn't like then b) don't like now (based on current posts) or c) never even knew. Facebook should be a place to keep in contact with people you really want to know about and continue long term friendships. See you there...if I like you.

Proud

Proud American, proud Mom, proud to choose what I want to choose.

1, 2, 3... GO TEAM GO!

I love our country. I am a proud American. I know you are too. We can't always depend on the system which is our democracy to get things done quickly, but we CAN help out by doing one small act. In the hard times that we are living in (stop with the blame game), there is one thing we can do to help our fellow Americans out; buy products made in the USA. How hard is that? 50 cents more? $1 more? Even if it's $1.50 more, stop and think where that money is going. It is going into the pocket of an American worker to support an American family. It is an investment for our country. It is an investment for our children. It is the right thing to do.

Public or Private? NEITHER!!!!!!

Public or Private?

Gee, this could be tricky, or a trick question depending on how you view it. Almost sounds like the start of a conversation of who will be creating jobs, the government or the private sectors. Ahhh, well, that's a discussion for another day... this question is about our K-12 educational program as we know it. Do you think public schools or private schools are better for our kids? Why do you feel that way? Give me a new perspective, I'm always up for new. My view? (You knew that was coming!) The public and private schools are a joke in a day when education is key to our Nation's success. When are we going to open our eyes, open our mouths, and open up dialogue about the neanderthal ways we educate our most important resource? We can put a man on the moon, we can build the most innovative hand held devices, heck... we can organize groups of volunteers for disaster relief efforts for other countries in a day, but we still can't build an educational system that matters to our children's future. Sad huh?

Lies, Lies, and MORE Lies!

Is it okay to tell untruths knowingly and then claim that it is in the right of the First Amendment of the Constitution? When does Freedom of Speech become slander? Where do you draw the line?

Left? Right? Why?????

I don't know about you, but I'm tired of our choices when it comes to our political parties. I'm jaded by the Republican tall tales, and fed up with the no balls Democrats. What happened to the politicians that care about our country, not what party they belong to? What happened to standing up for the citizens of this great nation regardless which side of the room they sit?

We need a new party. A party that is not Left, a party that is not Right, but a party that looks at the BIG picture for this country. A party that actually knows our American History. A party that believes in the values of what this country stands for.

Where is this party?????

Get it?

BP Oil... Does anyone get that this is a foreign company? Does anyone get that another country is destroying our Gulf Coast, destroying more American jobs and taking the money out of OUR country? Why, oh why are WE apologizing to another country for destroying our waters? How does something like this happen? OH... I GET IT... we're not regulated! Ding, ding, ding...

What? You're kidding, right?

Really? The government will not extend unemployment benefits for the American people? People who have lost their jobs are lazy and living off the benefits? Really? Benefits give no incentives for these people to find another job? Yep, these people made SO much money off the government... that's why they lost their houses. Hmmmm....

Do U Believe?

Do you believe what they tell you? You will if you don't know your history.