Not all Southerners are Republican. Not all Republicans are idealogues. Not everyone in the US speaks English. America’s diversity cries out for tolerance and sensitivity. We come to this destination with our own unique baggage packed full of both good and bad experiences. Don’t assume I agree with you because I haven’t verbalized my opinions. I may have opposing views on a number of issues. Thankfully most once prejudiced ideas about the superiority of one gender over another, or one race over another, or one religion over another have nearly faded away. Yet we still have to overcome some lingering biases that keep us morally fractured, and relegate them to the history books where we can analyze how far we have come and how far we still have to go.
The song "Man in the Mirror" was composed by Siedah Garrett and Glen Ballard and sung by Michael Jackson. The refrain below makes a point that healing requires us to see ourselves realistically with our baggage exposed. There is no way we can see through the eyes of another, so we need to look in the only direction where we can truly change ourselves…
I'm Starting With The Man InThe Mirror
I'm Asking Him To Change His Ways
And No Message Could Have Been Any Clearer
If You Wanna Make The World A Better Place
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Insanity is…
Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
– Albert Einstein, (attributed)
Hey, if it’s good enough for Einstein, who am I to argue with his definition of insanity. For the purists, insanity is mainly a legal term: “Unsoundness of mind sufficient in the judgment of a civil court to render a person unfit to maintain a contractual or other legal relationship or to warrant commitment to a mental health facility.” I’ll leave that definition where it is, in the purview of attorneys and judges.
But the gist of my discourse today is with the Einstein version. 1. If you had been looking for a job for a year, and hadn’t received any offers, wouldn’t you do something differently? Maybe you would try to improve your resume, consider if you were dressed appropriately for the interviews, scrutinize how your qualifications match the job description, etc. 2. If you put your home up for sale and haven’t sold it in over a year, you might check comps in the area and lower your price, or update the paint or floors or appliances. 3. If you were unhappy day after day, you might consider an appointment with a counselor to find out the source of your distress. Sounds logical. Doing something different, expecting different results.
Simply put if something is broken, FIX IT! Some repairs ARE costly and take a long time. Some are DESIGNED to be costly and take a long time. An example I love is when California experienced the January 17, 1994 Northridge Earthquake –magnitude 6.8 - which damaged 4 major freeways in the LA area: I-5, I-10, SR 14, & SR 118. The I-10 was repaired and re-opened on April 11, 1994, 84 days after the earthquake and 66 days ahead of schedule. Normally this freeway would have had delays and cost overruns and who knows when the repairs would have been finished if California had done business the same old way. Instead, the normal state contracting procedures were suspended and CALTRANS hired contractors to demolish the damaged freeways and issued contracts with “ahead of schedule” bonuses as incentives to speed up the process. It worked! The final bonus total was $20 million but within about 5 months most major freeway sections were repaired and traffic was flowing normally again. Business was back in business and it was a win-win for all Californians. Unfortunately, the state has returned to business-as-usual and the lesson has been lost. Insanity, recovery, return to insanity.
Since 1970 our Federal government has bailed out savings and loans, Chrysler, New York City, Lockheed, Penn Central RR, several Airlines, and more. How much did it help, and how many more times will we do this, expecting different outcomes? Insanity? Fast forward to 2009 and the recent Wall Street bank bailouts. We did it again!!! Insanity!!!
Now we are closer than we have ever been before to getting healthcare reform. Because of corporate welfare and bailouts, we may not be able to get anything done because of the debt load, possibly for another 40 years. The same conservative mindset that would rather give tax breaks (counting on trickle-down which has not worked except in the mind of Ronald W. Reagan) rather than building a sustainable health care system to benefit us all and bolster our competitive edge in world business, are still moaning the same mantra. What is truly insane is the number of people who continue to believe that one day this conservative plan might work and we will all have affordable, quality healthcare. If it hasn’t happened in the past 40 years, how much longer are the conservatives willing to make everyone wait? When will they wake up to the reality that they are digging all our economic graves? Insanity.
I have been a political independent most of my life. I voted for Ronald Reagan, George HW Bush, Bill Clinton, Al Gore, John Kerry, and Barack Obama. I saw the writing on the wall in big bold letters back in the 80s. Wake up America and get off your rigid ideologue butts. Don’t continue believing the same old dogma dished up with the same-ole-politics-as-usual, manufactured scare tactics. Even Harry and Louise have gotten the message this time.
Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
– Albert Einstein, (attributed)
Hey, if it’s good enough for Einstein, who am I to argue with his definition of insanity. For the purists, insanity is mainly a legal term: “Unsoundness of mind sufficient in the judgment of a civil court to render a person unfit to maintain a contractual or other legal relationship or to warrant commitment to a mental health facility.” I’ll leave that definition where it is, in the purview of attorneys and judges.
But the gist of my discourse today is with the Einstein version. 1. If you had been looking for a job for a year, and hadn’t received any offers, wouldn’t you do something differently? Maybe you would try to improve your resume, consider if you were dressed appropriately for the interviews, scrutinize how your qualifications match the job description, etc. 2. If you put your home up for sale and haven’t sold it in over a year, you might check comps in the area and lower your price, or update the paint or floors or appliances. 3. If you were unhappy day after day, you might consider an appointment with a counselor to find out the source of your distress. Sounds logical. Doing something different, expecting different results.
Simply put if something is broken, FIX IT! Some repairs ARE costly and take a long time. Some are DESIGNED to be costly and take a long time. An example I love is when California experienced the January 17, 1994 Northridge Earthquake –magnitude 6.8 - which damaged 4 major freeways in the LA area: I-5, I-10, SR 14, & SR 118. The I-10 was repaired and re-opened on April 11, 1994, 84 days after the earthquake and 66 days ahead of schedule. Normally this freeway would have had delays and cost overruns and who knows when the repairs would have been finished if California had done business the same old way. Instead, the normal state contracting procedures were suspended and CALTRANS hired contractors to demolish the damaged freeways and issued contracts with “ahead of schedule” bonuses as incentives to speed up the process. It worked! The final bonus total was $20 million but within about 5 months most major freeway sections were repaired and traffic was flowing normally again. Business was back in business and it was a win-win for all Californians. Unfortunately, the state has returned to business-as-usual and the lesson has been lost. Insanity, recovery, return to insanity.
Since 1970 our Federal government has bailed out savings and loans, Chrysler, New York City, Lockheed, Penn Central RR, several Airlines, and more. How much did it help, and how many more times will we do this, expecting different outcomes? Insanity? Fast forward to 2009 and the recent Wall Street bank bailouts. We did it again!!! Insanity!!!
Now we are closer than we have ever been before to getting healthcare reform. Because of corporate welfare and bailouts, we may not be able to get anything done because of the debt load, possibly for another 40 years. The same conservative mindset that would rather give tax breaks (counting on trickle-down which has not worked except in the mind of Ronald W. Reagan) rather than building a sustainable health care system to benefit us all and bolster our competitive edge in world business, are still moaning the same mantra. What is truly insane is the number of people who continue to believe that one day this conservative plan might work and we will all have affordable, quality healthcare. If it hasn’t happened in the past 40 years, how much longer are the conservatives willing to make everyone wait? When will they wake up to the reality that they are digging all our economic graves? Insanity.
I have been a political independent most of my life. I voted for Ronald Reagan, George HW Bush, Bill Clinton, Al Gore, John Kerry, and Barack Obama. I saw the writing on the wall in big bold letters back in the 80s. Wake up America and get off your rigid ideologue butts. Don’t continue believing the same old dogma dished up with the same-ole-politics-as-usual, manufactured scare tactics. Even Harry and Louise have gotten the message this time.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Congressional Freak Show
Human Chimera Prohibition Act
Once again the conservative right wing-dings have wasted precious time and resources on legislation (this is so scary) to prevent US researchers from developing embryos that use both human and animal material. In other words to prevent the blending of species so we won’t see Satyrs, Griphons, Mermaids, Fauns, Minotaurs, Centaurs, etc. Kinda sounds like some one passed around a copy of "The Island of Dr. Moreau," the 1896 novel by H.G. Wells and they thought it was non-fiction.
"What was once only science fiction is now becoming a reality, and we need to ensure that experimentation and subsequent ramifications do not outpace ethical discussion and societal decisions," Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) said last year when he introduced similar legislation. "History does not look kindly on those who violate the dignity of the human person."
Great Britain IS experimenting with hybrids now. We will also have to watch the Far Eastern countries and Canada to see what develops as they also have approved hybrid research. So I will have to keep watching to see if these researchers are finding cures for diseases or creating hybrid armies to take over the world.
One big question is what constitutes a human hybrid? If I have a pig’s heart valve transplanted into my heart, am I then a hybrid? If we infect a mouse with a human blood borne pathogen to try and find a cure, should that mouse be considered a hybrid and the experiment outlawed? And if a human embryo is actually fertilized by a monkey, gestates, and is born, would destroying the animal/human be considered murder, genocide, or euthanasia? How likely is it that science could actually create another species by blending together their DNA? Hey, maybe some hanky panky took place millions of years ago between two species that actually could produce offspring and voila, that hybrid is now called a human. The possibilities are endless………….
There are 19 Republicans and one Democrat (Sen. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana) who have sponsored the bill. I lived in Louisiana when I was a Senior in High School. Our house backed up to a bayou. Most of what I observed coming from the swamp was snakes…although they might have had legs…and wait a minute, I remember hearing a faint voice calling help meeeeeeee.
Once again the conservative right wing-dings have wasted precious time and resources on legislation (this is so scary) to prevent US researchers from developing embryos that use both human and animal material. In other words to prevent the blending of species so we won’t see Satyrs, Griphons, Mermaids, Fauns, Minotaurs, Centaurs, etc. Kinda sounds like some one passed around a copy of "The Island of Dr. Moreau," the 1896 novel by H.G. Wells and they thought it was non-fiction.
"What was once only science fiction is now becoming a reality, and we need to ensure that experimentation and subsequent ramifications do not outpace ethical discussion and societal decisions," Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) said last year when he introduced similar legislation. "History does not look kindly on those who violate the dignity of the human person."
Great Britain IS experimenting with hybrids now. We will also have to watch the Far Eastern countries and Canada to see what develops as they also have approved hybrid research. So I will have to keep watching to see if these researchers are finding cures for diseases or creating hybrid armies to take over the world.
One big question is what constitutes a human hybrid? If I have a pig’s heart valve transplanted into my heart, am I then a hybrid? If we infect a mouse with a human blood borne pathogen to try and find a cure, should that mouse be considered a hybrid and the experiment outlawed? And if a human embryo is actually fertilized by a monkey, gestates, and is born, would destroying the animal/human be considered murder, genocide, or euthanasia? How likely is it that science could actually create another species by blending together their DNA? Hey, maybe some hanky panky took place millions of years ago between two species that actually could produce offspring and voila, that hybrid is now called a human. The possibilities are endless………….
There are 19 Republicans and one Democrat (Sen. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana) who have sponsored the bill. I lived in Louisiana when I was a Senior in High School. Our house backed up to a bayou. Most of what I observed coming from the swamp was snakes…although they might have had legs…and wait a minute, I remember hearing a faint voice calling help meeeeeeee.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
On Oxymorons and Morons…
One definition of an oxymoron is: a combination of contradictory or incongruous words like jumbo shrimp, government intelligence, deafening silence, shabby chic, accidentally on purpose, smart bomb, etc. So to expand on the contradictory or incongruous (oxymoronic) things we do in life…working for 30 or 40 years in order to retire and enjoy life for about 15 to 20 years when we’re older and very tired from working so freakin’ many years to get to retire. Wouldn’t it make more sense to work half a day and have half a day off to enjoy, all of your life? No more deferred pleasure. I also think it would be a special gift to mankind if someone would find a way to make great tasting food (cream filled doughnuts, French onion dip, mocha café frappes) that is actually good for you and you can eat all you want without gaining an ounce. Eating without guilt. But I digress…
One definition of moronic is: being notably stupid or lacking in good judgment. The most moronic thing my husband and I have done in the past 15 years is to buy large expensive homes to have lots of room for visitors to visit. The first two homes we owned had 2300 SF in the Greater Atlanta area and 3000 SF at Lake Lanier resort area. We lived in those two homes for at total of nine years and had 5 visits. There were myriad things to do in downtown Atlanta and at the lake. Then we moved to Los Angeles and had 2 visits in the first 1.5 years. There were myriad things to do in LA and surrounding area. Of course we were living in an 800 SF duplex with one bathroom and the visitors had to sleep on the sofa bed. Then we moved out to the Mojave Desert where we bought a 1400 SF home and had only one visit in 3.5 years. (OK so not so much to do in the desert.) Anyway, the moral of my rambling tale is, don’t be a moron and buy a larger house and expect to have lots of visitors. Move into a smaller space and they will come! Our current home is about 1900 SF but is located in an out-of-the-way, small southeastern town near a recreational reservoir. We have one spare BR with a guest bath. We have been here almost 3 years and have had 4 visits. This could be the home that breaks the curse! Just large enough AND just small enough. Yaaaaaaaaaaay! Who knew?
One definition of moronic is: being notably stupid or lacking in good judgment. The most moronic thing my husband and I have done in the past 15 years is to buy large expensive homes to have lots of room for visitors to visit. The first two homes we owned had 2300 SF in the Greater Atlanta area and 3000 SF at Lake Lanier resort area. We lived in those two homes for at total of nine years and had 5 visits. There were myriad things to do in downtown Atlanta and at the lake. Then we moved to Los Angeles and had 2 visits in the first 1.5 years. There were myriad things to do in LA and surrounding area. Of course we were living in an 800 SF duplex with one bathroom and the visitors had to sleep on the sofa bed. Then we moved out to the Mojave Desert where we bought a 1400 SF home and had only one visit in 3.5 years. (OK so not so much to do in the desert.) Anyway, the moral of my rambling tale is, don’t be a moron and buy a larger house and expect to have lots of visitors. Move into a smaller space and they will come! Our current home is about 1900 SF but is located in an out-of-the-way, small southeastern town near a recreational reservoir. We have one spare BR with a guest bath. We have been here almost 3 years and have had 4 visits. This could be the home that breaks the curse! Just large enough AND just small enough. Yaaaaaaaaaaay! Who knew?
Sunday, July 5, 2009
TW3
TW3 (That Was The Week That Was)
Acknowledgement to BBC and David Frost’s British Satirical Review from the 60s
*Iraqi cities were free of US troops (now we need to get out of the country)
*Sara Palin resigned her position of Governor of Alaska (run Sara, run)
*VP Biden says the Obama administration misread the depth of this recession
(we could have told them that)
*Stocks are in freefall (duh)
*N Korea keeps firing missiles (maybe they will use them all up)
*Madoff gets 150 years at hard labor (not really long enough?)
*Unemployment hasn’t been this high since the 80s (how high will it go?)
*Al Frankin finally is declared winner of MN senate race (#60)
*Statue of Liberty reopens for the first time since 911
(I was up in the crown back in the 90s after Lee Iacoca and crew
had rehabed the deteriorating statue with donated funds,
what a view, what a climb!)
*And once again MS takes first prize for fattest state in US (I’m going on a diet now!!)
Two passings in one day just before this TW3. Makes me remember that we are all mortal.
*Michael Jackson died (RIP Michael, I still have my original Thriller Album in vinyl of course)
*Farrah Fawcett died (she was in my sculpture class at UT, RIP Farrah)
I’m sure there’s lots more, but this has been a really busy week with just the few events cited above. Current late nite comedians are relishing the fresh material (and I can’t wait to see what David Letterman makes out of Sara’s latest stunt). I know David Frost would have been pleased to put a British spin on this week if he still had his TW3 show. If you have never seen TW3, it is worth a look-see. The comedic perspective from GB was always my reason for not taking anything too seriously, even my own mortality.
Acknowledgement to BBC and David Frost’s British Satirical Review from the 60s
*Iraqi cities were free of US troops (now we need to get out of the country)
*Sara Palin resigned her position of Governor of Alaska (run Sara, run)
*VP Biden says the Obama administration misread the depth of this recession
(we could have told them that)
*Stocks are in freefall (duh)
*N Korea keeps firing missiles (maybe they will use them all up)
*Madoff gets 150 years at hard labor (not really long enough?)
*Unemployment hasn’t been this high since the 80s (how high will it go?)
*Al Frankin finally is declared winner of MN senate race (#60)
*Statue of Liberty reopens for the first time since 911
(I was up in the crown back in the 90s after Lee Iacoca and crew
had rehabed the deteriorating statue with donated funds,
what a view, what a climb!)
*And once again MS takes first prize for fattest state in US (I’m going on a diet now!!)
Two passings in one day just before this TW3. Makes me remember that we are all mortal.
*Michael Jackson died (RIP Michael, I still have my original Thriller Album in vinyl of course)
*Farrah Fawcett died (she was in my sculpture class at UT, RIP Farrah)
I’m sure there’s lots more, but this has been a really busy week with just the few events cited above. Current late nite comedians are relishing the fresh material (and I can’t wait to see what David Letterman makes out of Sara’s latest stunt). I know David Frost would have been pleased to put a British spin on this week if he still had his TW3 show. If you have never seen TW3, it is worth a look-see. The comedic perspective from GB was always my reason for not taking anything too seriously, even my own mortality.
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