Five players from Ohio State have received a punishment of suspension for the first five games of NEXT season. They will be allowed to play in this year's post-season bowl.
Their coach announced that they had all PROMISED that they will return next year and carry out the suspension. (Of course, the university has also appealed the penalty -- after all, if they play and win their bowl game, there is a chance the NCAA will reduce the penalty and they will get to play most of next season)
The coach felt that it would not be "fair" to keep them out a bowl game that they had "earned" by their play this season.
Whether you feel that the NCAA rules that they violated are fair or not is not part of THIS discussion.
They PROMISED that they will return. What holds them to that promise?
Fairness, honor, integrity and morality should hold them to that promise.
Is that enough? Will it hold?
If an NFL team offers any of these young men a contract for next season, what will keep them from accepting?
Honor, Integrity, Morality.
Is that enough?
If I owned an NFL team, would I want to employ someone who would take a public stand, then disavow it for financial gain? What does that tell me about the employee?
Frankly, there are NFL owners who have shown that they do not care about the honor of their team, the honor of the game, or anything except their own egos being stroked by winning.
So, where do you think these guys will be playing next year?
Ohio State?
Dallas?
Oakland?
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Sunday, December 19, 2010
The Keystrokes of Your Life
Is your life measured by keystrokes? Do you feeled compelled to tweet, text, and post on a daily or even hourly basis in order to assure yourself and the electronic world around you that you exist?
A friend of mine has a brother who has over 3,000 facebook "friends". How many of them do you suppose he knows? How many of them does he care about? How many of them care about him?
3,000 "friends"?
I doubt that I am acquainted with 3,000 people, much less "friends" with that many. Think about the number. If an elementary school teacher taught 30 children each year for 30 years, that would be 900 students. How many of the first year class would the teacher remember by retirement? If the teacher was also acquainted with ALL of the parents of those 900 children, the total number would begin to approach 3,000. But friends?
Of course, I don't make a habit of "friending" on facebook people I do not actually know IRL. I have made ONE exception. A person whose blog I regularly follow asked the blog readers to "friend" her. There are days when her blog post is actually her facebook jottings. I have also directly communicated with her by e-mail. As I say, ONE person I have never physically met.
So, if you have 3,000 "friends", if you spend your entire day tweeting, twittering, texting, posting, e-mailing, IMing, what are you doing with your life?
Do you have a life?
Please, post and let me know.
A friend of mine has a brother who has over 3,000 facebook "friends". How many of them do you suppose he knows? How many of them does he care about? How many of them care about him?
3,000 "friends"?
I doubt that I am acquainted with 3,000 people, much less "friends" with that many. Think about the number. If an elementary school teacher taught 30 children each year for 30 years, that would be 900 students. How many of the first year class would the teacher remember by retirement? If the teacher was also acquainted with ALL of the parents of those 900 children, the total number would begin to approach 3,000. But friends?
Of course, I don't make a habit of "friending" on facebook people I do not actually know IRL. I have made ONE exception. A person whose blog I regularly follow asked the blog readers to "friend" her. There are days when her blog post is actually her facebook jottings. I have also directly communicated with her by e-mail. As I say, ONE person I have never physically met.
So, if you have 3,000 "friends", if you spend your entire day tweeting, twittering, texting, posting, e-mailing, IMing, what are you doing with your life?
Do you have a life?
Please, post and let me know.
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Irony
I remember a gift tax case I worked back in '05 or '06. The taxpayer had been instrumental in the development of a local corporation that became quite large. When his business was taken over by a publicaly traded company, he got a LOT of stock in the big company. A LOT OF STOCK. For the sake of numbers, we'll say his holdings (in one, publically-traded company) had a street value of $10 million.
He couldn't sell the stock and realize $10 million. If he had attempted to sell off even half of it, the value on the daily market would likely have plunged.
He was, in effect handcuffed by gold. He owned the stock, he received VERY nice dividends, but he couldn't sell enough stock in a brief time to give himself full liquidity.
He was not a young man. The stock would be valued at it's trading price on the day he died, and his estate would be taxed on that $10 million dollars.
Not a financially comfortable picture.
The gentleman was no fool. He met with his attorneys, and they developed a plan to minimize the estate tax effect of his stock ownership.
First, he transferred the stock from himself to a corporation. This corporation held two classes of stock - common and prefered. Each class of stock was divided into two characteristics - voting and non-voting.
There were further restrictions on the ability of any share holder to sell their stock to anyone outside of the corporation.
I was charged with auditing the gift tax returns for the gifts of stock in the corporation that he made to his children and grandchildren.
Now, when you take stock that trades on the public market for %10 million dollars and pays a regular dividend, and you manage, through expensive planning to put that stock into a corporation where it does not necesarily pay a dividend, where it cannot be sold outside of the corporation, and may or may not have any voting rights, the stock becomes worth less than $10 million. A minority interest in a non-liquid asset may be worth less than 50% of the fair market value of the asset on an unrestricted basis.
Yes, this gentleman had planned, and planned well to avoid a large portion of the estate tax that might otherwise be due upon his demise.
His plan was sufficiently sophisticated that after spending a considerable amount of time attempting to find it's weak points, I decided NOT to propose any adjustments to the gift tax returns.
The gentleman had probably payed between $150,000 and $500,000 to set up the plan. He probably payed another $10,000 for the gift tax returns that I was examining. In addition, there was another fee for the appraisals of the various classes of stock that were gifted.
Now recognize that the estate tax on $10 million would have been approximately $4.5 million. Of course, he owned other assets beyond the stock. H may have paid as much as one million dollars to avoid a portion of the $4.5 million.
I had the first year he had set up the complicated structure. He probably made more gifts of stock in the subsequent years.
Of course, the corporation he set u had to file annual returns also.
Irony?
He died in 2010. I saw his obituary in the newspaper.
In 2010, there is/was NO estate tax. His heirs could have recieved the stock unrestricted and tax free. Instead, they receive the stock subject to the corporate structure he established in order to avoid estate taxes. They will likely pay the attorneys another quarter of a million dollars to un-do the structrue he set up.
All that very, very expensive work gave no benefit to his heirs. In fact, it has cost them more to un-do it. They received the stock as a gift, which means that the value in their hands is NOT the value as of his death, but a lesser amount.
Irony. He planned well, and Congress disposed of matters in a different way.
RIP
He couldn't sell the stock and realize $10 million. If he had attempted to sell off even half of it, the value on the daily market would likely have plunged.
He was, in effect handcuffed by gold. He owned the stock, he received VERY nice dividends, but he couldn't sell enough stock in a brief time to give himself full liquidity.
He was not a young man. The stock would be valued at it's trading price on the day he died, and his estate would be taxed on that $10 million dollars.
Not a financially comfortable picture.
The gentleman was no fool. He met with his attorneys, and they developed a plan to minimize the estate tax effect of his stock ownership.
First, he transferred the stock from himself to a corporation. This corporation held two classes of stock - common and prefered. Each class of stock was divided into two characteristics - voting and non-voting.
There were further restrictions on the ability of any share holder to sell their stock to anyone outside of the corporation.
I was charged with auditing the gift tax returns for the gifts of stock in the corporation that he made to his children and grandchildren.
Now, when you take stock that trades on the public market for %10 million dollars and pays a regular dividend, and you manage, through expensive planning to put that stock into a corporation where it does not necesarily pay a dividend, where it cannot be sold outside of the corporation, and may or may not have any voting rights, the stock becomes worth less than $10 million. A minority interest in a non-liquid asset may be worth less than 50% of the fair market value of the asset on an unrestricted basis.
Yes, this gentleman had planned, and planned well to avoid a large portion of the estate tax that might otherwise be due upon his demise.
His plan was sufficiently sophisticated that after spending a considerable amount of time attempting to find it's weak points, I decided NOT to propose any adjustments to the gift tax returns.
The gentleman had probably payed between $150,000 and $500,000 to set up the plan. He probably payed another $10,000 for the gift tax returns that I was examining. In addition, there was another fee for the appraisals of the various classes of stock that were gifted.
Now recognize that the estate tax on $10 million would have been approximately $4.5 million. Of course, he owned other assets beyond the stock. H may have paid as much as one million dollars to avoid a portion of the $4.5 million.
I had the first year he had set up the complicated structure. He probably made more gifts of stock in the subsequent years.
Of course, the corporation he set u had to file annual returns also.
Irony?
He died in 2010. I saw his obituary in the newspaper.
In 2010, there is/was NO estate tax. His heirs could have recieved the stock unrestricted and tax free. Instead, they receive the stock subject to the corporate structure he established in order to avoid estate taxes. They will likely pay the attorneys another quarter of a million dollars to un-do the structrue he set up.
All that very, very expensive work gave no benefit to his heirs. In fact, it has cost them more to un-do it. They received the stock as a gift, which means that the value in their hands is NOT the value as of his death, but a lesser amount.
Irony. He planned well, and Congress disposed of matters in a different way.
RIP
Monday, December 6, 2010
Cookies, Anyone?
As a person who loves to cook, I naturally make cookies. This time of year, I make a LOT of cookies.
You see, there is only me and George. If I bake one batch of cookies, the two of us eat the entire batch. Bad result. Therefore, I bake a LOT of cookies. Some years, I make a dozen different types. Result?
1. I am so sick of cookies that I have no desire to eat any.
2. I have goodies to give to all of my friends. (One year, everyone in my group got a bag of assorted cookies. They all loved me!)
And what is Christmas without cookies? This is part of my way of celebrating the season.
I try at least one new recipe every year.
This year, the first new one was a Martha Stewart honey-walnut confection. I should have smelled a rat when she used a food processor to reduce the toasted walnuts to meal. Everyone knows that you put the toasted nuts in a plastic bag and use the rolling pin to reduce them to meal. Anyway, this one is a sort of shortbread. I may keep it for the honey proportions and tweak it a bit -- add lemon zest and cinnamon and convert it into a sort of baklava shortbread.
I'm golfing tomorrow. The ladies playing with me will get some of my "tried and true" cookies as a treat. George fed some to the guys he golfed with today. They LOVED them. Of course, at this rate, I'll have to bake at least 3 more batches before the weekend.
Sometimes life is tough. Sometimes it's just sweet. That's the way the cookie crumbles.
You see, there is only me and George. If I bake one batch of cookies, the two of us eat the entire batch. Bad result. Therefore, I bake a LOT of cookies. Some years, I make a dozen different types. Result?
1. I am so sick of cookies that I have no desire to eat any.
2. I have goodies to give to all of my friends. (One year, everyone in my group got a bag of assorted cookies. They all loved me!)
And what is Christmas without cookies? This is part of my way of celebrating the season.
I try at least one new recipe every year.
This year, the first new one was a Martha Stewart honey-walnut confection. I should have smelled a rat when she used a food processor to reduce the toasted walnuts to meal. Everyone knows that you put the toasted nuts in a plastic bag and use the rolling pin to reduce them to meal. Anyway, this one is a sort of shortbread. I may keep it for the honey proportions and tweak it a bit -- add lemon zest and cinnamon and convert it into a sort of baklava shortbread.
I'm golfing tomorrow. The ladies playing with me will get some of my "tried and true" cookies as a treat. George fed some to the guys he golfed with today. They LOVED them. Of course, at this rate, I'll have to bake at least 3 more batches before the weekend.
Sometimes life is tough. Sometimes it's just sweet. That's the way the cookie crumbles.
Monday, November 29, 2010
Addiction exposed
My computer had to go in for some work. I took it in on Sunday, the 21st, and did not get it back until Friday the 26th.
What did I DO for those days?
I read, I fretted, I tried to figure out what to do with myself without my adult, electronic -sitter.
How did I ever become so dependent on a machine?
I was lucky. I did not experience any symptoms of substance withdrawal. Perhaps that was because I knew that my drug of choice would soon be returned to me.
Or perhaps the fretting, the pacing, the wandering through rooms looking for SOMETHING to do WERE symptoms of withdrawal.
So, I must confess, I am a computer addict. Life without the internet is flat. The internet gives depth and texture to me.
YEACH!!!!!!
What did I DO for those days?
I read, I fretted, I tried to figure out what to do with myself without my adult, electronic -sitter.
How did I ever become so dependent on a machine?
I was lucky. I did not experience any symptoms of substance withdrawal. Perhaps that was because I knew that my drug of choice would soon be returned to me.
Or perhaps the fretting, the pacing, the wandering through rooms looking for SOMETHING to do WERE symptoms of withdrawal.
So, I must confess, I am a computer addict. Life without the internet is flat. The internet gives depth and texture to me.
YEACH!!!!!!
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Plus que ca change, plus que c'est le meme chose
"The more things change, the more they stay the same"
Over dinner tonite, my friend and I were talking about some of the expectations we had regarding our retirements and moving to a new state.
I suddenly had a flash-back to something I had read in either junior high school or my first year of high school. I was reading a publication of the best writing of high school students of some time in the late 1960's.
There was one story that dealt with guys riding in box cars, looking for work, and telling some kid to jump off on a curve near a certain town. The curve was too fast for a person to jump off and not receive serious injury. The "old-timers" were setting a possible death sentence for the rookie.
Another story, which was recalled to my memory immediately, dealt with a young man moving from the south to the north. The man's race was never mentioned. The northern city was never mentioned. The theme was that the same term was addressed to the young man in both cities. He had move north, hoping for a better life, and found that he was still called by the same term.
My friend and I are hetro-sexual, anglo-saxons. We are NOT any type of minority, any type of 'oppressed' group. We both thougt life would be different here. Somehow, we both thought that HERE, there would be more people who thought before they spoke, who valued knowledge over degrees, who would ENCOURAGE independent thought rather than embracing sameness.
Tonight, we laughed over our naivite. No place is any different than any other. Walden II does not exist. People ARE people the world over. In China, in Antartica, we would find people who think they are better than we are (perhaps because they REFUSE to think) Some of them (probably the ones in Antartica) WOULD be better (or at least smarter) than us. Some of them would not be smarter or better, and some of them would be the same, yet different.
I need to embrace a world in which there are people I believe are absolute f**king morons. And I need to accept their right to exist in this world, even if I think they are wasting valuable atoms of oxygen.
Over dinner tonite, my friend and I were talking about some of the expectations we had regarding our retirements and moving to a new state.
I suddenly had a flash-back to something I had read in either junior high school or my first year of high school. I was reading a publication of the best writing of high school students of some time in the late 1960's.
There was one story that dealt with guys riding in box cars, looking for work, and telling some kid to jump off on a curve near a certain town. The curve was too fast for a person to jump off and not receive serious injury. The "old-timers" were setting a possible death sentence for the rookie.
Another story, which was recalled to my memory immediately, dealt with a young man moving from the south to the north. The man's race was never mentioned. The northern city was never mentioned. The theme was that the same term was addressed to the young man in both cities. He had move north, hoping for a better life, and found that he was still called by the same term.
My friend and I are hetro-sexual, anglo-saxons. We are NOT any type of minority, any type of 'oppressed' group. We both thougt life would be different here. Somehow, we both thought that HERE, there would be more people who thought before they spoke, who valued knowledge over degrees, who would ENCOURAGE independent thought rather than embracing sameness.
Tonight, we laughed over our naivite. No place is any different than any other. Walden II does not exist. People ARE people the world over. In China, in Antartica, we would find people who think they are better than we are (perhaps because they REFUSE to think) Some of them (probably the ones in Antartica) WOULD be better (or at least smarter) than us. Some of them would not be smarter or better, and some of them would be the same, yet different.
I need to embrace a world in which there are people I believe are absolute f**king morons. And I need to accept their right to exist in this world, even if I think they are wasting valuable atoms of oxygen.
Friday, November 5, 2010
Sad Thoughts
Normally, I love flowers. I usually buy them everytime I go to the grocery store. Sometimes I splurge and go to the local florest and buy myself something special.
Today, I did NOT like buying flowers.
I bought them for a friend's funeral.
Marcella, I wish I that THOUGHT and sent you flowers while you were alive.
You were a very special, a very dear friend. You weren't just my friend. Everyone who came into contact with you loved you.
Your smile, your laugh, they could light up an entire room.
You were down-to-earth, practical, sensible and funny. You had such a big heart. Perhaps it wore out early because you kept it so open to everyone.
Perhaps today, on some golf course in heaven, you are playing again with Bernie, Helen and the other ladies of the 9-hole association.
On the card with the flowers, it says "We miss you"
I miss you Marcella. You were someone I could always talk to, somone who put up with me regardless of how I acted.
Flowers are not enough. They would not have been enough when you were alive to let you know how much you meant to me.
Goodbye, Marcella. Many people miss you and we all wish we had told you more often that we loved you. Goodbye.
Today, I did NOT like buying flowers.
I bought them for a friend's funeral.
Marcella, I wish I that THOUGHT and sent you flowers while you were alive.
You were a very special, a very dear friend. You weren't just my friend. Everyone who came into contact with you loved you.
Your smile, your laugh, they could light up an entire room.
You were down-to-earth, practical, sensible and funny. You had such a big heart. Perhaps it wore out early because you kept it so open to everyone.
Perhaps today, on some golf course in heaven, you are playing again with Bernie, Helen and the other ladies of the 9-hole association.
On the card with the flowers, it says "We miss you"
I miss you Marcella. You were someone I could always talk to, somone who put up with me regardless of how I acted.
Flowers are not enough. They would not have been enough when you were alive to let you know how much you meant to me.
Goodbye, Marcella. Many people miss you and we all wish we had told you more often that we loved you. Goodbye.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
"Network" Revisited
The movie "Network" was released in 1976 or 1977. The best recalled line is the anchor screaming out into a thunderstorm "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore!" In the movie, the anchor goes insane and is eventually assassinated. He expresses outrage, he expresses confusion, he expressesa lot of FEELINGS, but he never DOES anything with those feelings other than to convince a lot of other people that they feel the same way too.
I thought about it today while reading an article about the Tea Party. The article explained that while on the grass-roots level the Tea Party is helping people articulate their anger/frustration/whatever at government in general, one of their weaknesses is that they have no platform, no program for dealing with the frustration. They do tell people to go out and vote, and at times impliadly, at times expressly tell them to vote out the incumbents.
However, when it comes to what the new members of the legislative bodies will do, are expected or anticipated to do or would please the Tea Party by doing, the silence is deafening.
The Tea Party, like the anchor in Network, is screaming "I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore!" However, what they are going to do (and what is it they are not going to take) is never stated.
Unless they want to meet the modern-day equivalent of assassination (being forgotten and relegated to oblivion) the Tea Party needs to present CONCRETE objectives. They need to not merely express a desired result but to articulate definate steps to achieve those results.
They want less government? What do they think can be eliminated (and how much do they think such elimination would save?) Cut back the IRS? How will the government collect the tax monies to fund defense? Eliminate the Department of Education? With no National standards for math and science, how will the next generation compete in the jobs market? Eliminate the EPA? Who will force BP to clean up the next oil spill?
I am not saying that any of those aims are not achievable, or even not admirable. I just would like to know HOW they will be achieved.
Being mad as hell and not willing to take things might be a good starting point. However, without an idea of WHERE you want to end up, you are just running in circles.
I thought about it today while reading an article about the Tea Party. The article explained that while on the grass-roots level the Tea Party is helping people articulate their anger/frustration/whatever at government in general, one of their weaknesses is that they have no platform, no program for dealing with the frustration. They do tell people to go out and vote, and at times impliadly, at times expressly tell them to vote out the incumbents.
However, when it comes to what the new members of the legislative bodies will do, are expected or anticipated to do or would please the Tea Party by doing, the silence is deafening.
The Tea Party, like the anchor in Network, is screaming "I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore!" However, what they are going to do (and what is it they are not going to take) is never stated.
Unless they want to meet the modern-day equivalent of assassination (being forgotten and relegated to oblivion) the Tea Party needs to present CONCRETE objectives. They need to not merely express a desired result but to articulate definate steps to achieve those results.
They want less government? What do they think can be eliminated (and how much do they think such elimination would save?) Cut back the IRS? How will the government collect the tax monies to fund defense? Eliminate the Department of Education? With no National standards for math and science, how will the next generation compete in the jobs market? Eliminate the EPA? Who will force BP to clean up the next oil spill?
I am not saying that any of those aims are not achievable, or even not admirable. I just would like to know HOW they will be achieved.
Being mad as hell and not willing to take things might be a good starting point. However, without an idea of WHERE you want to end up, you are just running in circles.
Monday, October 11, 2010
Transitions
Just got back home from a week in San Diego (Spring Valley, to be precise) We moved my mother from independent living to assisted living.
We was myself, my two brothers, one sister-in-law, and one day; three cousins.
Mom has lived in this community since '02. She has been in independent living, with a two-bedroom, two bath apartment. Dad died in '04, and Mom has been on her own. She quit driving in '08, and gave her car to my niece.
We, (my brothers, my sister and I) had somewhat forbidden her from cooking for this last year. Three reasons: 1) her age, 2) here, she had an electric stove after 50+ years of gas; and 3) quite frankly, the stove was somewhat defective, as we determined when trying to cook things ourselves.
Cut down, cut down and delete! was the theme. Most of the furniture was already figured out. A few glitches occured. Her touch-turn lamps both failed during the move. We suspect that since they were roughly 30 years old, the only reason they were still functioning as designed was because they had not been moved in 8 years. She had sufficient other lamps.
My sister had done a crude layout for the furniture. She either over-estimated the space or under-estimated the size of the furniture. With four men present on Tuesday, we managed to re-configure.
We rented a storage space to store the pictures and decorative items my sister will arrive later this year to arrange. We rented a 5X5 space. It is not full. Because the stored items are mostly pictures and decorative items, they are mostly boxed, and my sister will have the delight of arranging them further.
We lucked out. We had called various charitable organizations about picking up un-needed items. They could not pick up while we were there. On Wednesday, I was running something between the old and new units. Saw a truck from the Rescue Mission picking up stuff. Asked them if they could stop by our place. They could, and took several large pices that we had worried about getting rid of.
Mom's next door neighbor (in independent living) has a daughter who has become a friend. Her church is having a rummage sale. She took a bunch of stuff for that.
I "scored" a tile-top table (mission style) that had belonged to Aunt Polly. In her will, I was to receive it. However, my mother got it from her before she died. Since it wasn't part of her estate, I didn't get it then. Steve and I have had a long-standing competition/joke about which of us took it. He let me have it. Steve got the silver service. I'm relieved. I don't have space to securely store it.
I got "the Rowe rock" This is a piece of black, only semi-crystaline tourmaline shot with granite that we picked up many, many years ago. I recall it as being on a truck-trail somewhere behind Lovelace damn. I could be wrong on the location. I do know that it was sometime in the early '60's, as I do remember it being loaded into the '57 Chevy wagon, which then hit bottom a couple of times on our way out of where ever we were. It is now in my front (xero-scaped) yard. As my husband noted, the New Mexico winds will NOT move it.
I took Mom's rain-guage, which is a frog with the rain-gauge tube in his mouth. It fits in my back-yard decor.
When we moved the folks out of the house in '02, it was very emotional. They had been ther for 50+ years. I was born after they moved there.
We knew that the house would be torn down, the orchard mostly razed, and four or five luxery homes built on the site. All four of us were there, and it was a major wrench.
This time, the wrench was cutting down on the memory items. I don't really mind the stuff I have bought since '02. It is the OLD stuff. I took several vases. Some of them were wedding presents in 1945. We stored the china that my grandmother painted.
Mom has moved from an apartment that was almost as big as the old house to a single room. Her memories have not shrunk. But her room for displaying them has.
We was myself, my two brothers, one sister-in-law, and one day; three cousins.
Mom has lived in this community since '02. She has been in independent living, with a two-bedroom, two bath apartment. Dad died in '04, and Mom has been on her own. She quit driving in '08, and gave her car to my niece.
We, (my brothers, my sister and I) had somewhat forbidden her from cooking for this last year. Three reasons: 1) her age, 2) here, she had an electric stove after 50+ years of gas; and 3) quite frankly, the stove was somewhat defective, as we determined when trying to cook things ourselves.
Cut down, cut down and delete! was the theme. Most of the furniture was already figured out. A few glitches occured. Her touch-turn lamps both failed during the move. We suspect that since they were roughly 30 years old, the only reason they were still functioning as designed was because they had not been moved in 8 years. She had sufficient other lamps.
My sister had done a crude layout for the furniture. She either over-estimated the space or under-estimated the size of the furniture. With four men present on Tuesday, we managed to re-configure.
We rented a storage space to store the pictures and decorative items my sister will arrive later this year to arrange. We rented a 5X5 space. It is not full. Because the stored items are mostly pictures and decorative items, they are mostly boxed, and my sister will have the delight of arranging them further.
We lucked out. We had called various charitable organizations about picking up un-needed items. They could not pick up while we were there. On Wednesday, I was running something between the old and new units. Saw a truck from the Rescue Mission picking up stuff. Asked them if they could stop by our place. They could, and took several large pices that we had worried about getting rid of.
Mom's next door neighbor (in independent living) has a daughter who has become a friend. Her church is having a rummage sale. She took a bunch of stuff for that.
I "scored" a tile-top table (mission style) that had belonged to Aunt Polly. In her will, I was to receive it. However, my mother got it from her before she died. Since it wasn't part of her estate, I didn't get it then. Steve and I have had a long-standing competition/joke about which of us took it. He let me have it. Steve got the silver service. I'm relieved. I don't have space to securely store it.
I got "the Rowe rock" This is a piece of black, only semi-crystaline tourmaline shot with granite that we picked up many, many years ago. I recall it as being on a truck-trail somewhere behind Lovelace damn. I could be wrong on the location. I do know that it was sometime in the early '60's, as I do remember it being loaded into the '57 Chevy wagon, which then hit bottom a couple of times on our way out of where ever we were. It is now in my front (xero-scaped) yard. As my husband noted, the New Mexico winds will NOT move it.
I took Mom's rain-guage, which is a frog with the rain-gauge tube in his mouth. It fits in my back-yard decor.
When we moved the folks out of the house in '02, it was very emotional. They had been ther for 50+ years. I was born after they moved there.
We knew that the house would be torn down, the orchard mostly razed, and four or five luxery homes built on the site. All four of us were there, and it was a major wrench.
This time, the wrench was cutting down on the memory items. I don't really mind the stuff I have bought since '02. It is the OLD stuff. I took several vases. Some of them were wedding presents in 1945. We stored the china that my grandmother painted.
Mom has moved from an apartment that was almost as big as the old house to a single room. Her memories have not shrunk. But her room for displaying them has.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Food for Thought
I wrote last week about the food bank. We get some of our food through local food drives. The majority, we obtain from RoadRunner Food Bank. RoadRunner is the central clearing house for food banks throughout New Mexico.
Commodities; generally produce, bread and frozen foods are at no charge. For the rest, we pay by the pound. Whether it is a pound of canned food (including the weight of the can) or a pound of food in a plastic bag, the cost is the same.
That means that some items can be effertively unit priced.
One such item is the packaged macaroni and cheese. Yes, the stuff you boil, add margarine and milk to, and stir. The unit price is around thirty cents per box when we buy it from RoadRunner.
Wednesday morning, in the local paper, the local grocery was selling their store brand of macaroni and cheese for twenty-five cents per box. Four for one dollar!! This definately undercuts the RoadRunner food bank cost.
Wednesday mornings, I play golf with several other ladies. We only play nine holes, we take no more than two hours to play, then we relax and chat after. IF (and it isn't often) we play for money, we each put in two dollars.
I'll admit to manipulating the situation Wednesday. After we came in, I managed to get the conversation to turn to the latest economic figures. I pulled out the add from the paper, and explained how the food bank is normally only able to get the mac and cheese at three for a dollar. ALL of the ladies present took out the two dollars we had not bet on the game and gave them to the lady who is the buyer for the local food bank. Twelve dollars will be 48 boxes of mac and cheese. Yes, that will only be enough for one day, but since we haven't had any for a while, it is a start.
What food is a "loss leader" (selling at below what it costs) at your local market. How much are you capable of buying without hurting your budget?
Take it to your local food bank.
Commodities; generally produce, bread and frozen foods are at no charge. For the rest, we pay by the pound. Whether it is a pound of canned food (including the weight of the can) or a pound of food in a plastic bag, the cost is the same.
That means that some items can be effertively unit priced.
One such item is the packaged macaroni and cheese. Yes, the stuff you boil, add margarine and milk to, and stir. The unit price is around thirty cents per box when we buy it from RoadRunner.
Wednesday morning, in the local paper, the local grocery was selling their store brand of macaroni and cheese for twenty-five cents per box. Four for one dollar!! This definately undercuts the RoadRunner food bank cost.
Wednesday mornings, I play golf with several other ladies. We only play nine holes, we take no more than two hours to play, then we relax and chat after. IF (and it isn't often) we play for money, we each put in two dollars.
I'll admit to manipulating the situation Wednesday. After we came in, I managed to get the conversation to turn to the latest economic figures. I pulled out the add from the paper, and explained how the food bank is normally only able to get the mac and cheese at three for a dollar. ALL of the ladies present took out the two dollars we had not bet on the game and gave them to the lady who is the buyer for the local food bank. Twelve dollars will be 48 boxes of mac and cheese. Yes, that will only be enough for one day, but since we haven't had any for a while, it is a start.
What food is a "loss leader" (selling at below what it costs) at your local market. How much are you capable of buying without hurting your budget?
Take it to your local food bank.
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Food, Glorious Food
Last night, a friend sent me an e-mail decrying the fact that the U.S. spends billions in foreign aide while people in this country go to bed hungry. His point was clearly political.
My response was chiding. I pointed out that I and another person he knows WORK at our local food bank. I capitalize the word work. It is no fun session. I basically challenged my friend to DO something. He is elderly and unwell. He would not be able to physically assist. BUT he most certainly has the resources to assist in a financial manner.
If 100 people each donated $5 per month to the food bank, we would be able to buy that much more food to help feed the hungry families of Valencia County.
What do we buy? Staples -- tuna, peanut butter, dried beans, rice, pasta, canned vegtables, canned fruit. The selection varies based on availablility. The Belen Area Food Pantry buys fod from RoadRunner Food Bank in Albuquerque. The food bank delivers. We also get bread, produce and frozen foods from Road Runner. Those are provided at no cost, they are part of the Government's commodities program. The catch? Availability.
Availability is the catch with most of the products. We have been unable to buy one or two pound bags of dried beans. The only way we can buy dried beans is in bulk - ONE TON bulk. In Belen, we have neither the storage facility nor the ability to package for distribution one ton of dried beans.
For the last two or three months, we have not had either dried beans or rice to distribute.
At times, the bread we have gotten has been infested with mold. We are unable to give it out. The produce is usually past it's prime, but as long as it is not actually decaying, we give it out.
Sometimes, there is no bread or no produce.
The Food Bank is not the only source of food for our clients. They qualify for food stamps. They come to the food bank before they do the rest of their food shopping so that they will have an idea of what they have, and what they will need.
Famlies may only obtain food from the food bank every other month. They do not receive ennough food to last two months. We don't have enough to give them that much.
I look at myself and know that I need to loose weight. How to do that? Eat less! Then I look for new, gourmet recipes to try. Great example, right?
At least I do give of my time.
But I challenge you - can YOU afford to give $5 per month to your local food bank? They say charity begins at home. Who do you help?
My response was chiding. I pointed out that I and another person he knows WORK at our local food bank. I capitalize the word work. It is no fun session. I basically challenged my friend to DO something. He is elderly and unwell. He would not be able to physically assist. BUT he most certainly has the resources to assist in a financial manner.
If 100 people each donated $5 per month to the food bank, we would be able to buy that much more food to help feed the hungry families of Valencia County.
What do we buy? Staples -- tuna, peanut butter, dried beans, rice, pasta, canned vegtables, canned fruit. The selection varies based on availablility. The Belen Area Food Pantry buys fod from RoadRunner Food Bank in Albuquerque. The food bank delivers. We also get bread, produce and frozen foods from Road Runner. Those are provided at no cost, they are part of the Government's commodities program. The catch? Availability.
Availability is the catch with most of the products. We have been unable to buy one or two pound bags of dried beans. The only way we can buy dried beans is in bulk - ONE TON bulk. In Belen, we have neither the storage facility nor the ability to package for distribution one ton of dried beans.
For the last two or three months, we have not had either dried beans or rice to distribute.
At times, the bread we have gotten has been infested with mold. We are unable to give it out. The produce is usually past it's prime, but as long as it is not actually decaying, we give it out.
Sometimes, there is no bread or no produce.
The Food Bank is not the only source of food for our clients. They qualify for food stamps. They come to the food bank before they do the rest of their food shopping so that they will have an idea of what they have, and what they will need.
Famlies may only obtain food from the food bank every other month. They do not receive ennough food to last two months. We don't have enough to give them that much.
I look at myself and know that I need to loose weight. How to do that? Eat less! Then I look for new, gourmet recipes to try. Great example, right?
At least I do give of my time.
But I challenge you - can YOU afford to give $5 per month to your local food bank? They say charity begins at home. Who do you help?
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Art, For Art's Sake
To fulfill an obligation to an aquaintance, I went to the Belen Art League Art Show at the Harvey House.
I am amazed.
In Southern Californis, "art" shows featured pieces with price tags starting at $100 and most, from there, going UP.
In So Cal, the art seemed to be divided into two categorise -- the painfully amatuerish and the $5K+ level
Here, the art, and much of what I saw WAS art, was mostly LESS than $500.
There were some FACINATING items.
Someone is using the Ukrainian wax dying method with native american designs on eggs.
FACINATING!!
Decorator water-colors, evocative of Georgia O'Keefe, for less than $500. BEAUTIFUL decorative pieces.
One or two pieces that take your breath away as being ART!! Gallery-quality pieces.
I have noticed this before here, in New Mexico. There is extremely good art produced by local individuals who do it for the love of the form, not to create a tax loss or to make an 'image' for themselves.
A note to those who would collect current art; especially 'folk' art: do not bother with the cities. Look to the local art guilds, and you will find some real treasures, and find them for a pittance.
I am amazed.
In Southern Californis, "art" shows featured pieces with price tags starting at $100 and most, from there, going UP.
In So Cal, the art seemed to be divided into two categorise -- the painfully amatuerish and the $5K+ level
Here, the art, and much of what I saw WAS art, was mostly LESS than $500.
There were some FACINATING items.
Someone is using the Ukrainian wax dying method with native american designs on eggs.
FACINATING!!
Decorator water-colors, evocative of Georgia O'Keefe, for less than $500. BEAUTIFUL decorative pieces.
One or two pieces that take your breath away as being ART!! Gallery-quality pieces.
I have noticed this before here, in New Mexico. There is extremely good art produced by local individuals who do it for the love of the form, not to create a tax loss or to make an 'image' for themselves.
A note to those who would collect current art; especially 'folk' art: do not bother with the cities. Look to the local art guilds, and you will find some real treasures, and find them for a pittance.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
What are the odds?
I am not a statistician. I have never taken so much as a class in basic statistical theory. I know NOTHING about the subject.
However, I lived the first 54 years of my life in Southern California. Every two years, there was an election. That happens all over this country. EVERY TWO YEARS.
In all the time I lived in California, I could probably count on the fingers on one hand the number of times that a political polling entity called me to ask my opinion on an issue. The closest to any such thing were the "surveys" prepared by the local representative regarding issues he cared about. Those "surveys" were usually worded in a way to elicit a response favorable to the Congressman's opinion or position on the issue.
I have lived in new Mexico for approximately five years. During election season, it seems as though at least once a week, I receive a call from a "polling organization". Some of these are clearly blatent plugs for one candidate or the other. However, at least once a month in the period from July through October, we receive a call that appears to be a legitimate polling inquiry.
Once a month? New Mexico is a SMALL state. We have THREE, count them THREE Congressional districts. We have five electoral votes. True, that's not at the bottom of the numbers, but it isn't very far up.
My question is simple-- Why are pollsters more concerned with the political opinions of a voter living in a small state than they were with the opinions of a person living in one of the largest (population-wise) states in the Country? And yes, in both locations, my telephone number has been listed and available.
What are the statistical odds of my receiving a legitimate poll inquiry once a month in New Mexico and yet only once every five years in California?
I have not looked (in the Almanac of American Politics) at the voting percentages of my old California district and my New Mexico district. Perhaps New Mexico citizens vote at a much higher percentage than Californians. That could be a partial explanation.
It's not because in California I was working, and now I am retired. The calls generally come after six p.m. I was home in California by then.
Why am I more important now when I am living in a MUCH smaller state? My experience makes me question the validity of the polls.
But as I said at the beginning, I have never studied statistics.
However, I lived the first 54 years of my life in Southern California. Every two years, there was an election. That happens all over this country. EVERY TWO YEARS.
In all the time I lived in California, I could probably count on the fingers on one hand the number of times that a political polling entity called me to ask my opinion on an issue. The closest to any such thing were the "surveys" prepared by the local representative regarding issues he cared about. Those "surveys" were usually worded in a way to elicit a response favorable to the Congressman's opinion or position on the issue.
I have lived in new Mexico for approximately five years. During election season, it seems as though at least once a week, I receive a call from a "polling organization". Some of these are clearly blatent plugs for one candidate or the other. However, at least once a month in the period from July through October, we receive a call that appears to be a legitimate polling inquiry.
Once a month? New Mexico is a SMALL state. We have THREE, count them THREE Congressional districts. We have five electoral votes. True, that's not at the bottom of the numbers, but it isn't very far up.
My question is simple-- Why are pollsters more concerned with the political opinions of a voter living in a small state than they were with the opinions of a person living in one of the largest (population-wise) states in the Country? And yes, in both locations, my telephone number has been listed and available.
What are the statistical odds of my receiving a legitimate poll inquiry once a month in New Mexico and yet only once every five years in California?
I have not looked (in the Almanac of American Politics) at the voting percentages of my old California district and my New Mexico district. Perhaps New Mexico citizens vote at a much higher percentage than Californians. That could be a partial explanation.
It's not because in California I was working, and now I am retired. The calls generally come after six p.m. I was home in California by then.
Why am I more important now when I am living in a MUCH smaller state? My experience makes me question the validity of the polls.
But as I said at the beginning, I have never studied statistics.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
The Eye of the Beholder
I’m a baby-boomer-- a fucking baby-boomer. Looks are the sine qua non. Brains are merely the icing on the cake.
I have a dream a dream of a day when a woman will not be judged on the measure of her bust, but on the content of her BRAIN.
Yes, I have had cerebral affairs, when I fucked with a guy’s brain. But would he have been attracted to my brain if it had been inside of a 300 pound, bucked-toothed body??
Perhaps that will be the ultimate blessing of the internet. A couple can meet on-line, without ever seeing a picture of each other, and fall in love with the PERSON. Once they meet IRL, they might have to make some adjustments to their ideals.
I have a dream a dream of a day when a woman will not be judged on the measure of her bust, but on the content of her BRAIN.
Yes, I have had cerebral affairs, when I fucked with a guy’s brain. But would he have been attracted to my brain if it had been inside of a 300 pound, bucked-toothed body??
Perhaps that will be the ultimate blessing of the internet. A couple can meet on-line, without ever seeing a picture of each other, and fall in love with the PERSON. Once they meet IRL, they might have to make some adjustments to their ideals.
Friday, September 3, 2010
I Like Food
I like food, I like cooking, I like trying new things. I've blogged about this before.
So, once again I sit down with my notebook of clipped recipies and try to decide what to put on next week's menu. I've been collecting recipies for years, and have a lot of them I have never tried. What shall I go with this time?
Baked pasta with spinach and sausage -- shell pasta with spinach and hot italian sausage in a cheese-heavy alfredo-like sauce
Sausage Ragout - smoked sausage in a sort of Italian stew - Italian green beans, cannellini beans, tomatoes, bell pepper (red and green) and italian spices
Crab and Avocado enchiladas - you cook some of the avocado into the enchiladas
Crab and Asparagus Bread Pudding - what it sounds like - (sounds yummy!)
Those are the four dishes I have never fixed that I am debating. As I think, the bread pudding and the ragout may just be a little too heavy. (I know, I know, Alfedo sauce isn't?) It's still warm out, and I may want to go for dishes that seem less wintery.
I refuse to limit myself only to things I know how to cook. After all, where's the excitement in that?
If it sounded good enough to cut out of a paper or magazine years and years ago, it should still be good enough to cook and eat today.
So, once again I sit down with my notebook of clipped recipies and try to decide what to put on next week's menu. I've been collecting recipies for years, and have a lot of them I have never tried. What shall I go with this time?
Baked pasta with spinach and sausage -- shell pasta with spinach and hot italian sausage in a cheese-heavy alfredo-like sauce
Sausage Ragout - smoked sausage in a sort of Italian stew - Italian green beans, cannellini beans, tomatoes, bell pepper (red and green) and italian spices
Crab and Avocado enchiladas - you cook some of the avocado into the enchiladas
Crab and Asparagus Bread Pudding - what it sounds like - (sounds yummy!)
Those are the four dishes I have never fixed that I am debating. As I think, the bread pudding and the ragout may just be a little too heavy. (I know, I know, Alfedo sauce isn't?) It's still warm out, and I may want to go for dishes that seem less wintery.
I refuse to limit myself only to things I know how to cook. After all, where's the excitement in that?
If it sounded good enough to cut out of a paper or magazine years and years ago, it should still be good enough to cook and eat today.
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Pop Corn and Margaritas
Let's admit it, doesn't that sound good?
I'm trying to plan a menu for the week. I'm looking at things I have fixed, asking myself "What sounds good?"
Coq au vin and Cassoulet both sound too heavy for the heat of summer. Seafood-stuffed manicotti? Chicken fried steak? Both are possibilities, although the manicotti IS a lot of work.
What if, instead of buying the manicotti pasta, I make crepes? Haven't done THAT in a good many years. But if I make a full recipe of crepes, then I can put other things in them for another meal---chicken in a light sauce, maybe?
Mac & cheese (actually rigatoni in a fontina sauce with prosciutto and mushrooms)? That has the advantage of tasting even better a day or two later.
I'm making myself hungry. Microwave popcorn and pre-made margarita. I'm set!
So, I open my cook book of main dishes --I place recipes I cut out of magazines and newspapers in a loose-leaf binder-- and there is an estouffade bernaise. I've never made that. Reading through, it looks DELICIOUS!! and also a very WINTER dish. That one will wait.
An EASY chicken cacciatore -- haven't made that in YEARS!! Flag that for a meal!
Looking at fish dishes. Crab and asparagus bread pudding (agin, might be a winter dish) and one called "Pasta with Mushrooms and Scallops" A variation on scampi! Uses cream in the sauce....FLAG THAT!!
Well, I've got my menu started -- Chicken fried steak with mashed potatoes and peas; Chicken cacciatore with pasta and a salad; Tuscan steak with creamed spinach (fairly easy, just sounds complicated)(add a tossed salad to this too); Pasta with mushrooms and scallops (and a salad); I may just add in Burritos for two reasons - 1. they're EASY.
2. George LOVES them.
And if I golf Tuesday, and George and I golf Friday, those two nights I don't have to fix dinner!
OK, who is coming over which nights for dinner??
I'm trying to plan a menu for the week. I'm looking at things I have fixed, asking myself "What sounds good?"
Coq au vin and Cassoulet both sound too heavy for the heat of summer. Seafood-stuffed manicotti? Chicken fried steak? Both are possibilities, although the manicotti IS a lot of work.
What if, instead of buying the manicotti pasta, I make crepes? Haven't done THAT in a good many years. But if I make a full recipe of crepes, then I can put other things in them for another meal---chicken in a light sauce, maybe?
Mac & cheese (actually rigatoni in a fontina sauce with prosciutto and mushrooms)? That has the advantage of tasting even better a day or two later.
I'm making myself hungry. Microwave popcorn and pre-made margarita. I'm set!
So, I open my cook book of main dishes --I place recipes I cut out of magazines and newspapers in a loose-leaf binder-- and there is an estouffade bernaise. I've never made that. Reading through, it looks DELICIOUS!! and also a very WINTER dish. That one will wait.
An EASY chicken cacciatore -- haven't made that in YEARS!! Flag that for a meal!
Looking at fish dishes. Crab and asparagus bread pudding (agin, might be a winter dish) and one called "Pasta with Mushrooms and Scallops" A variation on scampi! Uses cream in the sauce....FLAG THAT!!
Well, I've got my menu started -- Chicken fried steak with mashed potatoes and peas; Chicken cacciatore with pasta and a salad; Tuscan steak with creamed spinach (fairly easy, just sounds complicated)(add a tossed salad to this too); Pasta with mushrooms and scallops (and a salad); I may just add in Burritos for two reasons - 1. they're EASY.
2. George LOVES them.
And if I golf Tuesday, and George and I golf Friday, those two nights I don't have to fix dinner!
OK, who is coming over which nights for dinner??
Friday, August 6, 2010
A Silent Solution?
I came across an article that appeared in the New Your Times on July 9, 2010. It was written by Julia Preston, and reports on what she calls "Silent Raids" by immigration. Her article indicates that these raids are carried out against large employers who are in industries where hiring illegal workers is frequently a regular practice.
The raids are not carried out in the traditional manner. Rather than rounding up and removing employees, the immigration agent inspects the I-9's the employees fill out and the employers maintain. By auditing the records, the agents can determine which employees are not in this country legally. The employer then fires the illegal workers.
The illegal workers are not deported. HOWEVER, they are very unlikely to find work with any large employer in that particular industry.
Under the traditional scenario, a large group of agents would have rounded up all of the illegal workers and (eventually) returned them to Mexico. This new method uses only one agent to audit the employer's records. Under this new version, the illegal parties are not forcibly deported. The cost savings to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) are large.
And the worker who is in this country illegally, who can no longer find work in the industry they have been working in, and possibly cannot find ANY job? He does not qualify for unemployment, or for welfare. He may very well choose to re-partiate himself back to his country of origen.
The article was picked up by various news services and portions of it were repeated in national news outlets during the next two or three days. However, no further "in-depth" coverage was done.
Simple searches show that there HAS been a major change in immigration law. Or rather, there has been a major change in penalties for hiring illegal immigrants.
It appears that perhaps the current administration has implemented a "silent solution" to the immigration crises. By examining the payrolls of the large employers, by fining the employers and forcing them to fire the illegal employees, it appears that a program is underway to make jobs less plentiful for the illegal immigrant -- whether he is from Mexico, Poland, or China.
The raids are not carried out in the traditional manner. Rather than rounding up and removing employees, the immigration agent inspects the I-9's the employees fill out and the employers maintain. By auditing the records, the agents can determine which employees are not in this country legally. The employer then fires the illegal workers.
The illegal workers are not deported. HOWEVER, they are very unlikely to find work with any large employer in that particular industry.
Under the traditional scenario, a large group of agents would have rounded up all of the illegal workers and (eventually) returned them to Mexico. This new method uses only one agent to audit the employer's records. Under this new version, the illegal parties are not forcibly deported. The cost savings to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) are large.
And the worker who is in this country illegally, who can no longer find work in the industry they have been working in, and possibly cannot find ANY job? He does not qualify for unemployment, or for welfare. He may very well choose to re-partiate himself back to his country of origen.
The article was picked up by various news services and portions of it were repeated in national news outlets during the next two or three days. However, no further "in-depth" coverage was done.
Simple searches show that there HAS been a major change in immigration law. Or rather, there has been a major change in penalties for hiring illegal immigrants.
It appears that perhaps the current administration has implemented a "silent solution" to the immigration crises. By examining the payrolls of the large employers, by fining the employers and forcing them to fire the illegal employees, it appears that a program is underway to make jobs less plentiful for the illegal immigrant -- whether he is from Mexico, Poland, or China.
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Secure Our Borders
In the on-going discussion of immigration policy, there has been a call to "secure our borders" What, exactly does this mean?
My home is secure. No one can peaceably enter without my consent. I am secure because I have walls and locks (and an alarm system)
So, is that what is meant by a "secure" border? Secure, because no one can enter without the consent of the country? Just how would the US go about securing our borders?
The most common concept appears to be a fence, running the length of the border with sensors and cameras and such to prevent anyone from entering without consent.
There are historic models that can be examined for efficacy. Hadrians Wall was built to secure the Romans from the maruading Scots. The Great Wall of China was built to secure the empire from the outside armies. In the 20th Century, the Berlin Wall was built, not to secure East Berlin but to prevent the citizens of East Berlin from emigrating to the West.
All three of these "Border Security" events failed in their purpose.
Why would one here be any better?
The Berlin wall appears to be the closest approximation to what is needed here. Are we willing to pay for a barier of ths magnitude? Are we eager to create "Dead zones" of land mines along our Southern border? Who will we hire, train and ORDER to shoot to kill people attempting to cross into our territory?
What do you REALLY mean by "Border Securtiy" and what are you willing to pay?
It seems a bit disingenous to call for a delay in discussing an over-haul of immigration until we "secure our borders" when we are not willing to either expend the necessary monies to build a barrier or to engage in the security behavior that would make such a barrier secure.
Let me re-phrase that last remark: Are we absolutely willing to post soldiers with "Shoot to kill" orders along our border?
My home is secure. No one can peaceably enter without my consent. I am secure because I have walls and locks (and an alarm system)
So, is that what is meant by a "secure" border? Secure, because no one can enter without the consent of the country? Just how would the US go about securing our borders?
The most common concept appears to be a fence, running the length of the border with sensors and cameras and such to prevent anyone from entering without consent.
There are historic models that can be examined for efficacy. Hadrians Wall was built to secure the Romans from the maruading Scots. The Great Wall of China was built to secure the empire from the outside armies. In the 20th Century, the Berlin Wall was built, not to secure East Berlin but to prevent the citizens of East Berlin from emigrating to the West.
All three of these "Border Security" events failed in their purpose.
Why would one here be any better?
The Berlin wall appears to be the closest approximation to what is needed here. Are we willing to pay for a barier of ths magnitude? Are we eager to create "Dead zones" of land mines along our Southern border? Who will we hire, train and ORDER to shoot to kill people attempting to cross into our territory?
What do you REALLY mean by "Border Securtiy" and what are you willing to pay?
It seems a bit disingenous to call for a delay in discussing an over-haul of immigration until we "secure our borders" when we are not willing to either expend the necessary monies to build a barrier or to engage in the security behavior that would make such a barrier secure.
Let me re-phrase that last remark: Are we absolutely willing to post soldiers with "Shoot to kill" orders along our border?
Thursday, July 29, 2010
A Less Modest Proposition
Would it work? My prior blog "A Modest Proposal" gave a suggestion for how to absolutely STOP illegal immigration into this country: CRIMINALIZE HIRING ILLEGALS
So, I wondered, what would be the result of such an endeavor?
One of the frequent excuses heard for hiring illegals is "Legals won't do the work. If we had to pay full wages and provide benefits, our prices would have to go up and no-one would buy our product and we would go out of business."
Really?
Think it through.
If employers had to pay better wages and offer benefits, and there were no illegals to take the jobs, persons on welfare or otherwise unemployed might well take those jobs. This reduces the Foodstamp roll, reduces the unemployment rolls, and with the new health care insurance, reduces the Medicare rolls.
If there are no illegal aliens here taking jobs for bad pay, it also reduces the number of children in public school receiving free breakfast and lunch, it reduces the strain on the emergency rooms of persons without insurance, and reduces the population of some inner-city and slum areas.
In fact, as I see it, if there were NO illegal aliens here, more Americans could and would find work, putting more money into OUR economy, and leading to sufficient revenues THAT THERE COULD BE LEGITIMATE TAX CUTS BECAUSE MONIES WOULD NO LONGER BE SPENT SUPPORTING ILLEGALS!!
Something to think about.
So, I wondered, what would be the result of such an endeavor?
One of the frequent excuses heard for hiring illegals is "Legals won't do the work. If we had to pay full wages and provide benefits, our prices would have to go up and no-one would buy our product and we would go out of business."
Really?
Think it through.
If employers had to pay better wages and offer benefits, and there were no illegals to take the jobs, persons on welfare or otherwise unemployed might well take those jobs. This reduces the Foodstamp roll, reduces the unemployment rolls, and with the new health care insurance, reduces the Medicare rolls.
If there are no illegal aliens here taking jobs for bad pay, it also reduces the number of children in public school receiving free breakfast and lunch, it reduces the strain on the emergency rooms of persons without insurance, and reduces the population of some inner-city and slum areas.
In fact, as I see it, if there were NO illegal aliens here, more Americans could and would find work, putting more money into OUR economy, and leading to sufficient revenues THAT THERE COULD BE LEGITIMATE TAX CUTS BECAUSE MONIES WOULD NO LONGER BE SPENT SUPPORTING ILLEGALS!!
Something to think about.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
A Perfect Day
How do you describe a perfect day?
It varies with age, with circumstance, with everything in life that occurrs.
Yesterday, I had a perfect day.
My husband and I picked up a friend and went out to breakfast. Good coffee, good friends and LOTS of good food. I stopped eating before I exploded, but although I do not usually enjoy pre-fetal chickens, my breakfast was excellent.
Then we went to play golf. Cochoti golf course is on the Santa Domingo pueblo. They do not have a casino, the course is about 25 miles off of the interstate, and is almost lost in the hills and canyons.
Yes, it was a very hot day. Yes, I played as poorly as always (2 bogies - we WON'T talk about the rest)
But the course is beautiful. The setting is beautiful, and we had a WONDERFUL time.
Afterwards, coming home, we stopped in Albuquerque for dinner. The resturant we choose happens to have a jazz band that plays on Tuesday nights. GREAT food, good music, good friends.
It was a perfect day.
How to define a perfect day at this age?
A perfect day is when you drop your friend off and DON'T heave a sigh of relief. Instead, you say:
What a Perfect Day!
It varies with age, with circumstance, with everything in life that occurrs.
Yesterday, I had a perfect day.
My husband and I picked up a friend and went out to breakfast. Good coffee, good friends and LOTS of good food. I stopped eating before I exploded, but although I do not usually enjoy pre-fetal chickens, my breakfast was excellent.
Then we went to play golf. Cochoti golf course is on the Santa Domingo pueblo. They do not have a casino, the course is about 25 miles off of the interstate, and is almost lost in the hills and canyons.
Yes, it was a very hot day. Yes, I played as poorly as always (2 bogies - we WON'T talk about the rest)
But the course is beautiful. The setting is beautiful, and we had a WONDERFUL time.
Afterwards, coming home, we stopped in Albuquerque for dinner. The resturant we choose happens to have a jazz band that plays on Tuesday nights. GREAT food, good music, good friends.
It was a perfect day.
How to define a perfect day at this age?
A perfect day is when you drop your friend off and DON'T heave a sigh of relief. Instead, you say:
What a Perfect Day!
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Petty people get their kicks from making others cry
Two things have crossed my radar recently.
The first was an on-line article (msn.com? I really don't recall) about fear in the workplace. There was a description of a fear-dominated workplace, where people are afraid to express their hones opinions, afraid to offer suggetions, even afraid to speak with any openess to their co-workers for fear that their good ideas would be stolen and their gripes would be reported to the higher-ups. One of the points I totally focused on was about how information is diseminated in a fear-oriented workplace. It re-inforced a point I realized in my career: knowledge is power. Some managers believe that knowledge shared is power diminished, others believe that knowledge shared is knowledge enhanced via feed-back. I worked under managers in both camps. I have to admit, I prefered the knowledge-shared, fear-diminished workplace.
The second was a booklet about trust and communication in the workplace. It made a LOT of points that I wish I had been aware of when I was working. A HUGE facet of trust IS communication. They gave examples of meetings where everyone walked out feeling (very justifiably) that they understood their role in the situation when NONE of them knew what they were expected to do. For example-- your boss walks by your office and says; "We're having a problem with X" Does that mean that YOU are expected to resolve the problem? Does that mean that you will not receive what you need from X when you need it and need to go with an alternative plan? Is X about to be replaced by Y? Clearly, a huge part of trust IS communication.
I wish I had read these two items 25 years ago, when I encountered my first truely bad manager.
Now, I can look back and say: I wish I had spoken up in an appropriate manner. I didn't speak up. I thought that if I spoke up, things would become even worse. Maybe they would have. However, if I had know HOW to make my points, maybe some managers might have realized what they were doing was not right.
Oh, yes, my title of this post? Petty people do not just exist in the workplace. They exist in social situations as well. People who have NEVER been important take joy (or at least satisfaction) in tormenting people in social situations as well.
The first was an on-line article (msn.com? I really don't recall) about fear in the workplace. There was a description of a fear-dominated workplace, where people are afraid to express their hones opinions, afraid to offer suggetions, even afraid to speak with any openess to their co-workers for fear that their good ideas would be stolen and their gripes would be reported to the higher-ups. One of the points I totally focused on was about how information is diseminated in a fear-oriented workplace. It re-inforced a point I realized in my career: knowledge is power. Some managers believe that knowledge shared is power diminished, others believe that knowledge shared is knowledge enhanced via feed-back. I worked under managers in both camps. I have to admit, I prefered the knowledge-shared, fear-diminished workplace.
The second was a booklet about trust and communication in the workplace. It made a LOT of points that I wish I had been aware of when I was working. A HUGE facet of trust IS communication. They gave examples of meetings where everyone walked out feeling (very justifiably) that they understood their role in the situation when NONE of them knew what they were expected to do. For example-- your boss walks by your office and says; "We're having a problem with X" Does that mean that YOU are expected to resolve the problem? Does that mean that you will not receive what you need from X when you need it and need to go with an alternative plan? Is X about to be replaced by Y? Clearly, a huge part of trust IS communication.
I wish I had read these two items 25 years ago, when I encountered my first truely bad manager.
Now, I can look back and say: I wish I had spoken up in an appropriate manner. I didn't speak up. I thought that if I spoke up, things would become even worse. Maybe they would have. However, if I had know HOW to make my points, maybe some managers might have realized what they were doing was not right.
Oh, yes, my title of this post? Petty people do not just exist in the workplace. They exist in social situations as well. People who have NEVER been important take joy (or at least satisfaction) in tormenting people in social situations as well.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Gun Control
"Gun control means being able to hit your target."
This evening, we received a telephone call from the NRA. I doubt the young lady on the line ordinarily expects to hear her affiliation met with racous laughter. However, that's what she got.
Then I explained to her my theory on gun control.
My grandfather was a hunter. He always had rifles and shotguns. Guns were used to hunt for food for the family table. If you shot it, you cleaned it and you ate it.
Grandfather did not have any handguns. He did not like pistols. He said, "A pistol is only good for shooting a person."
And that's my feeling on gun control. Use guns to hunt for food.
One of the problems with this society is that we frown more on eating a dead person than on shooting him in the first place.
'
This evening, we received a telephone call from the NRA. I doubt the young lady on the line ordinarily expects to hear her affiliation met with racous laughter. However, that's what she got.
Then I explained to her my theory on gun control.
My grandfather was a hunter. He always had rifles and shotguns. Guns were used to hunt for food for the family table. If you shot it, you cleaned it and you ate it.
Grandfather did not have any handguns. He did not like pistols. He said, "A pistol is only good for shooting a person."
And that's my feeling on gun control. Use guns to hunt for food.
One of the problems with this society is that we frown more on eating a dead person than on shooting him in the first place.
'
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Nostalgia
I got another one of those e-mails today. You know, the ones that talk about watching Howdey-Doodey and Green stamps, etc, etc, and how wonderful the world was when we were growing up and didn't have viedogames or seat belts.
Remember?
Remember laughing and making fun of the kids who had polio and had to wear heavy braces and akward crutches? We had to put up with them in class because there was nothing wrong with their minds, just their bodies, but face it, most people with disabilities were kept "out of sight"
Remember no seat belts? I remember a girl I had been friends with since first grade, she was a homecoming princess our senior year. Then on Mother's day, the car she was riding in hit an oily patch and spun out. She wasn't wearing a seatbelt. She was still in rehab and didn't get to graduation. She did make it to college. And by then, people in wheelchairs weren't as unusual as when we were in grade school.
Remember getting your tetnus shot on a regular basis? When was the last time any of us did THAT?
Remember the days when (because of illegal red-lining) there were NO minorities of any color in your neighborhood? In California, in the mid-60's four of the largest real estate firms in my area were charged with discrimination. Certain areas were understoon to be "off limits" to minorities. Even if they had cash to pay for the home.
Nostalgia may be a longing for "the way things used to be" Take a hint: They never really were that way.
Remember?
Remember laughing and making fun of the kids who had polio and had to wear heavy braces and akward crutches? We had to put up with them in class because there was nothing wrong with their minds, just their bodies, but face it, most people with disabilities were kept "out of sight"
Remember no seat belts? I remember a girl I had been friends with since first grade, she was a homecoming princess our senior year. Then on Mother's day, the car she was riding in hit an oily patch and spun out. She wasn't wearing a seatbelt. She was still in rehab and didn't get to graduation. She did make it to college. And by then, people in wheelchairs weren't as unusual as when we were in grade school.
Remember getting your tetnus shot on a regular basis? When was the last time any of us did THAT?
Remember the days when (because of illegal red-lining) there were NO minorities of any color in your neighborhood? In California, in the mid-60's four of the largest real estate firms in my area were charged with discrimination. Certain areas were understoon to be "off limits" to minorities. Even if they had cash to pay for the home.
Nostalgia may be a longing for "the way things used to be" Take a hint: They never really were that way.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Immigration: A Modest Proposal
No, no, I'm NOT doing a re-write of Swift for this (although I once posited that if you could re-write his essay, substituting 'welfare' for Irish, a large number of newspaper readers would not recognize it). And yes, I have said that if the stands in Nevada and Arizona that sell "Alien Jerkey" were to re-image their little, green icons, it might make some illegal immigrants think twice; but no, I'm not proposing cannabilism.
Why do immigrants come to this country?
Because it is better here than where they are coming from. Why is it better here? Because here, they can find work that pays enough that they can live and in many instances, send money home to their families.
Why can they find work in this country?
They take jobs many people in this country are not willing to do.
Why are people here unwilling to do these jobs? In many cases it is because there are no benefits, unsafe or unplesant working conditions, no overtime pay, no sick leave, and similar matters. Why? Because the employers have found that illegals are willing to work under these conditions, will not report the employer to the Labor, Health, of Safety departments that would monitor these conditions, and because of their illgal status, will not protest unfair, or unsafe working conditions.
By using illgal workers, the employer can under-bid other employers who provide safe working conditions and pay full wages.
My point? There is a huge incentive for large employers to continue the current situation. The problem is not the "day-labor" pick-ups at the corner. The problem is not the woman who cleans houses. The problem is large employers.
Check construction sites for large developments (I know, I know, there aren't a whole lot of those right now) Look at the after-hours cleaning crews for major retailors. And yes, look at the traditional occupations of 'stoop labor': the agribusinesses who grow the food we put on our tables.
The simplest way to eliminate the "problem" of illegal immigrants is to eliminate the jobs that they perform. How can that be done?
CRIMINALIZE HIRING ILLEGALS
WHAT??? You say. Why should hiring people be against the law? If you believe that by being in this country a person is commiting an illegal act, then are you not also committing an illegal act (aiding and abbeting) when you hire them? IF crossing into this country without proper papers, or staying here after the proper papers have expired is illegal, why is not all interaction that allows these people to stay here also a crime?
1. ANY employer found to have either knowingly hired illegal immigrants or to have been less than careful in requiring hires to prove their status is fined $5,000 PER ILLEGAL EMPLOYEE for a first offense.
2. On a second offense within five years, the employer head - Company President, CEO, Chairman of the Board of directors (YES, ALL of them) spends 30 days in jail for each illegal employee.
3. Third offense? DEATH PENALTY. The corporation is dissolved! The business is out-of-business. In addition, the culpable parties (the ones listed in item 2 PLUS all of the paerons who hired illegals onto the jobs) spend ONE YEAR in jail for EVERY illegal they hired.
Now, if those were the penalties, how many large employers would hire ANYONE who could not prove legal status?
Now - just to keep things 'fair', if retailer X uses sub-contractor C to do ALL of the janitorial chores in State Q, RETAILER X IS ALSO ON THE LINE IF C HIRES ILLEGALS!! In other words, if a company does not hire illegals itself, but contracts work to companies that do, the top-level company is charged with complicity in the hiring.
That's my 'modest proposal' It will never fly.
Why not?
There are two reasons:
1. As the above situation shows, major corporations have a very big interest in hiring illegals, either directly or indirectly by sub-contracting with companies that do.
2. Ever since the expiration of the 'bracero' program (late '60's) Mexico has used illegal immigration to the United States to export their most ambitious members of the underclasses. If even half of the people who have come into this country illegally from Mexico had stayed at home, they very likely would have formented a revolt against an enourmously corrupt ruling class.
Quite honestly, I believe that Mexico uses this as a threat: if the U.S. actually cracks down on illegal immigration, Mexico would face serious upheaval. This threat serves to prevent true, serious immigration reform in this country. Face it, it is not in the interests of the U.S. to have Mexico in the throes of a revolution.
Of course, there is a simple, knee-jerk response to this: annex Mexico.
We had that opportunity in 1848. We didn't take it. Why not? There were three primary reasons:
1. The people of Mexico did not speak English.
2. The people of Mexico had brown skins.
3. The people of Mexico were primarily Catholic.
Which of those reasons still holds true today?
Why do immigrants come to this country?
Because it is better here than where they are coming from. Why is it better here? Because here, they can find work that pays enough that they can live and in many instances, send money home to their families.
Why can they find work in this country?
They take jobs many people in this country are not willing to do.
Why are people here unwilling to do these jobs? In many cases it is because there are no benefits, unsafe or unplesant working conditions, no overtime pay, no sick leave, and similar matters. Why? Because the employers have found that illegals are willing to work under these conditions, will not report the employer to the Labor, Health, of Safety departments that would monitor these conditions, and because of their illgal status, will not protest unfair, or unsafe working conditions.
By using illgal workers, the employer can under-bid other employers who provide safe working conditions and pay full wages.
My point? There is a huge incentive for large employers to continue the current situation. The problem is not the "day-labor" pick-ups at the corner. The problem is not the woman who cleans houses. The problem is large employers.
Check construction sites for large developments (I know, I know, there aren't a whole lot of those right now) Look at the after-hours cleaning crews for major retailors. And yes, look at the traditional occupations of 'stoop labor': the agribusinesses who grow the food we put on our tables.
The simplest way to eliminate the "problem" of illegal immigrants is to eliminate the jobs that they perform. How can that be done?
CRIMINALIZE HIRING ILLEGALS
WHAT??? You say. Why should hiring people be against the law? If you believe that by being in this country a person is commiting an illegal act, then are you not also committing an illegal act (aiding and abbeting) when you hire them? IF crossing into this country without proper papers, or staying here after the proper papers have expired is illegal, why is not all interaction that allows these people to stay here also a crime?
1. ANY employer found to have either knowingly hired illegal immigrants or to have been less than careful in requiring hires to prove their status is fined $5,000 PER ILLEGAL EMPLOYEE for a first offense.
2. On a second offense within five years, the employer head - Company President, CEO, Chairman of the Board of directors (YES, ALL of them) spends 30 days in jail for each illegal employee.
3. Third offense? DEATH PENALTY. The corporation is dissolved! The business is out-of-business. In addition, the culpable parties (the ones listed in item 2 PLUS all of the paerons who hired illegals onto the jobs) spend ONE YEAR in jail for EVERY illegal they hired.
Now, if those were the penalties, how many large employers would hire ANYONE who could not prove legal status?
Now - just to keep things 'fair', if retailer X uses sub-contractor C to do ALL of the janitorial chores in State Q, RETAILER X IS ALSO ON THE LINE IF C HIRES ILLEGALS!! In other words, if a company does not hire illegals itself, but contracts work to companies that do, the top-level company is charged with complicity in the hiring.
That's my 'modest proposal' It will never fly.
Why not?
There are two reasons:
1. As the above situation shows, major corporations have a very big interest in hiring illegals, either directly or indirectly by sub-contracting with companies that do.
2. Ever since the expiration of the 'bracero' program (late '60's) Mexico has used illegal immigration to the United States to export their most ambitious members of the underclasses. If even half of the people who have come into this country illegally from Mexico had stayed at home, they very likely would have formented a revolt against an enourmously corrupt ruling class.
Quite honestly, I believe that Mexico uses this as a threat: if the U.S. actually cracks down on illegal immigration, Mexico would face serious upheaval. This threat serves to prevent true, serious immigration reform in this country. Face it, it is not in the interests of the U.S. to have Mexico in the throes of a revolution.
Of course, there is a simple, knee-jerk response to this: annex Mexico.
We had that opportunity in 1848. We didn't take it. Why not? There were three primary reasons:
1. The people of Mexico did not speak English.
2. The people of Mexico had brown skins.
3. The people of Mexico were primarily Catholic.
Which of those reasons still holds true today?
Friday, May 21, 2010
Uneccessary things that Haven't been invented yet
Just the title makes me smile. Think of thigs that DON'T (we hope) currently exist, that are possibly feasible to create.
I. The cell phone vibrator:
It's ALWAYS set on vibrate!
Gives a whole new meaning to "phone sex"
II. The automatic toilet paper:
It's positioned somehow under the seat, and does it's duty after you've done
yours
"Look Ma! No hands!!"
III.
Come, my friends, let's create an entire catalogue. Clearly, there is a need for the uneccessary!!
I. The cell phone vibrator:
It's ALWAYS set on vibrate!
Gives a whole new meaning to "phone sex"
II. The automatic toilet paper:
It's positioned somehow under the seat, and does it's duty after you've done
yours
"Look Ma! No hands!!"
III.
Come, my friends, let's create an entire catalogue. Clearly, there is a need for the uneccessary!!
Thursday, April 22, 2010
April 22, 1970
The first Earth Day.
I was 17 years old, a junior in High School. I remember walking the 3 miles to school that day.
What had happened? In the late 60's and early 70's there was a lot of excitement, a lot of discussion, a lot of new (and some old) ideas going around. At my school, some of the teachers decided it would be a good idea to form "discussion clubs" where the students COULD discuss almost anything. A teacher would be present, perhaps to guide or monitor some of the discussion. The teacher could refer us to resources, books, articles, more information on a given topic.
We started off discussing the things that were of major importance to us: Vietnam and drugs. But we were hearing a lot about eco-action, and we started talking about the earth, what we were doing to hurt it and what we could do to help.
The very first Earth Day, we walked to school. (Okay, the kids who lived more than 5 miles away didn't). After that, we tried to take the idea of car-pooling seriously. We talked about mpg instead of horsepower when we talked about cars we wanted.
Did we make a difference? I like to think that we helped. Because we were willing to become aware, and to discuss recycling, conservation, pollution, and helping the earth, we were a small part of what became a large movement.
Forty years later, there is still a lot to be done. But starts have been made. Programs are in place, and people are aware.
And forty years later, Earth Day is still a day when all of us think about our planet and how to make it a little better, a little cleaner, a little heathier for ALL of us.
In the forty years since then, we've heard/learned about how clear-cutting the Amazon rainforest hurts us here in the US.
Earth day helped us all to realize that we ARE all in this together. We only have this one planet, and ALL of us are responsible for keeping it functioning for the next generations. We may not do much, but planting a tree, picking up trash, not littering, walking instead of driving when you're going less than a mile; all of these things help planet Earth.
Earth Day not only commemerates the beginning of serious ecology awareness to many of us, it also marks a day when we began to realize that we are one people on one Earth.
I was 17 years old, a junior in High School. I remember walking the 3 miles to school that day.
What had happened? In the late 60's and early 70's there was a lot of excitement, a lot of discussion, a lot of new (and some old) ideas going around. At my school, some of the teachers decided it would be a good idea to form "discussion clubs" where the students COULD discuss almost anything. A teacher would be present, perhaps to guide or monitor some of the discussion. The teacher could refer us to resources, books, articles, more information on a given topic.
We started off discussing the things that were of major importance to us: Vietnam and drugs. But we were hearing a lot about eco-action, and we started talking about the earth, what we were doing to hurt it and what we could do to help.
The very first Earth Day, we walked to school. (Okay, the kids who lived more than 5 miles away didn't). After that, we tried to take the idea of car-pooling seriously. We talked about mpg instead of horsepower when we talked about cars we wanted.
Did we make a difference? I like to think that we helped. Because we were willing to become aware, and to discuss recycling, conservation, pollution, and helping the earth, we were a small part of what became a large movement.
Forty years later, there is still a lot to be done. But starts have been made. Programs are in place, and people are aware.
And forty years later, Earth Day is still a day when all of us think about our planet and how to make it a little better, a little cleaner, a little heathier for ALL of us.
In the forty years since then, we've heard/learned about how clear-cutting the Amazon rainforest hurts us here in the US.
Earth day helped us all to realize that we ARE all in this together. We only have this one planet, and ALL of us are responsible for keeping it functioning for the next generations. We may not do much, but planting a tree, picking up trash, not littering, walking instead of driving when you're going less than a mile; all of these things help planet Earth.
Earth Day not only commemerates the beginning of serious ecology awareness to many of us, it also marks a day when we began to realize that we are one people on one Earth.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
National Day of Silence
I came to this information from another blog I regularly read --don'tgetmestarted.com by Linda Sharp. Google it and you will find a wealth of opinion, humor, and commentary on our lives. She also does some wicked re-caps (or recraps, as she calls them) on Americal Idol.
Anyway, today was a National Day of Silence. This was a day on which mid-school and high-schoold students "tak a vow of silence to bring attention to anti GLBT name-calling, bullying and harrassment at their schools."
WOW.
I graduated from high school in 1971. Of the students I kept contact with after high school, one came out as lesbian, one came out as gay. I was called a lesbian for putting my arm around another girl and comforting her when something went wrong.
Sexuality, indeed, sex was not an overt topic at school. There were the one or two girls who "got in trouble" (notice how it never was the boys?) Drugs and drinking were discussed more freely then sex.
Yes, this was not long after the gay community first began to make themselves visable.
But to me, the striking thing is -- The idea of SILENCE against bullying. From what we see in the news, bullying is the BIG issue today in mid and high school. Bullying. Not mere teasing, not mere "shuning" (which you by-passed by finding a group YOU were comfortable with and ignoring the "in" crowd)
Some of it is due to today's technology. When I stepped off the school bus, I was DONE with dealing with the 7th grade bullies. Today, FaceBook, cell phones, texting, all mean that a child is connected 7/24 to their social circle. Or their social tormentors.
Times like this make me very, very glad I never had kids.
"Stickes and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me. " That worked for me, in the 1960's. It doesn't work today.
I applaud all of those students who took the pledge and made today a day of silence in support of those around them who may have a different orientation but are non the less, human, teenagers, angst-ridden (weren't we all) and caring individuals.
Under our clothes, we are all naked. Under our skins, we are all human.
Something to consider.
Anyway, today was a National Day of Silence. This was a day on which mid-school and high-schoold students "tak a vow of silence to bring attention to anti GLBT name-calling, bullying and harrassment at their schools."
WOW.
I graduated from high school in 1971. Of the students I kept contact with after high school, one came out as lesbian, one came out as gay. I was called a lesbian for putting my arm around another girl and comforting her when something went wrong.
Sexuality, indeed, sex was not an overt topic at school. There were the one or two girls who "got in trouble" (notice how it never was the boys?) Drugs and drinking were discussed more freely then sex.
Yes, this was not long after the gay community first began to make themselves visable.
But to me, the striking thing is -- The idea of SILENCE against bullying. From what we see in the news, bullying is the BIG issue today in mid and high school. Bullying. Not mere teasing, not mere "shuning" (which you by-passed by finding a group YOU were comfortable with and ignoring the "in" crowd)
Some of it is due to today's technology. When I stepped off the school bus, I was DONE with dealing with the 7th grade bullies. Today, FaceBook, cell phones, texting, all mean that a child is connected 7/24 to their social circle. Or their social tormentors.
Times like this make me very, very glad I never had kids.
"Stickes and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me. " That worked for me, in the 1960's. It doesn't work today.
I applaud all of those students who took the pledge and made today a day of silence in support of those around them who may have a different orientation but are non the less, human, teenagers, angst-ridden (weren't we all) and caring individuals.
Under our clothes, we are all naked. Under our skins, we are all human.
Something to consider.
Saturday, April 3, 2010
The Chiffon Disaster
The title of this post is curtesy of my friend, Gwendy who wrote about the Disaster Cherry Jam
For dessert on an Easter dessert, I decided to make a lemon chiffon. This is lemon curd, stirred into unflavored gelitan, and then stiffened eggwhites.
To make lemon curd, you need a double boiler. I have a double boiler. However, out of vanity, I decided that my one-quart double-boiler was not big enough. Not big enough for four egg yolks, 1/2 cup lemon juice and 1/2 cup sugar. My very, very bad.
I have 2 2 quart pans. Slightly different configurations. However, they nest together. I decided I could use them for my double-boiler. Put water in the larger, put egg yolks, sugar and lemon juice in the smaller. Set water to boil. Once water was boiling, put second pan into first. Began stirring. Notices pans had apparently locked together. Thought "Oh shit, will have problems separating them later." Continued stirring custard.
Laws of physics ignore ignorance of cooks. Boiling water created sufficient pressure to blow entire matter off stove.
I remember giving one LOUD "YIP!" My husband heard POP of pan forcing up, my "YIP", then my SCREAMS as boiling mixture hit my face.
OUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Does not begin to describe!!!!
DROPPED PANS, TURNED FROM STOVE, TURNED ON FAUCET, SOAKED DISHRAG AND PLACED AGAINST FACE!!! REPEATEDLY!!!!
George grabed a bowl, poured in ice and ice water, handed me dishtowel, and I continued face applications!!!!!!!!!!
Once I could remove towel from face for more than 15 seconds, called Gwendy. She knew when I said "Is this nurse Gwendy?" that SOMETHING was wrong.
She brought me salve, and fortuneately, other than one or two blisters on my face, I am mostly recovered.
Clearly, my dessert for tomorrow is not going to happen as scripted. However, I still have eggwhites and lemmon zest. I believe it will turn into lemon macaroons.
BTW. Gwendy and Gil were ALREADY my guests for dinner tomorrow, BEFORE I needed "nurse Gwendy"
NEXT time I go to make lemon chiffon, I will use the 1 quart double boiler. And honestly, how ofter would I EVER need anything bigger??
For dessert on an Easter dessert, I decided to make a lemon chiffon. This is lemon curd, stirred into unflavored gelitan, and then stiffened eggwhites.
To make lemon curd, you need a double boiler. I have a double boiler. However, out of vanity, I decided that my one-quart double-boiler was not big enough. Not big enough for four egg yolks, 1/2 cup lemon juice and 1/2 cup sugar. My very, very bad.
I have 2 2 quart pans. Slightly different configurations. However, they nest together. I decided I could use them for my double-boiler. Put water in the larger, put egg yolks, sugar and lemon juice in the smaller. Set water to boil. Once water was boiling, put second pan into first. Began stirring. Notices pans had apparently locked together. Thought "Oh shit, will have problems separating them later." Continued stirring custard.
Laws of physics ignore ignorance of cooks. Boiling water created sufficient pressure to blow entire matter off stove.
I remember giving one LOUD "YIP!" My husband heard POP of pan forcing up, my "YIP", then my SCREAMS as boiling mixture hit my face.
OUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Does not begin to describe!!!!
DROPPED PANS, TURNED FROM STOVE, TURNED ON FAUCET, SOAKED DISHRAG AND PLACED AGAINST FACE!!! REPEATEDLY!!!!
George grabed a bowl, poured in ice and ice water, handed me dishtowel, and I continued face applications!!!!!!!!!!
Once I could remove towel from face for more than 15 seconds, called Gwendy. She knew when I said "Is this nurse Gwendy?" that SOMETHING was wrong.
She brought me salve, and fortuneately, other than one or two blisters on my face, I am mostly recovered.
Clearly, my dessert for tomorrow is not going to happen as scripted. However, I still have eggwhites and lemmon zest. I believe it will turn into lemon macaroons.
BTW. Gwendy and Gil were ALREADY my guests for dinner tomorrow, BEFORE I needed "nurse Gwendy"
NEXT time I go to make lemon chiffon, I will use the 1 quart double boiler. And honestly, how ofter would I EVER need anything bigger??
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
I Need to Learn Humility
Two things I have read in the past week keep gnawing at me.
1. Differences of political opinion do not mean one side is wrong and one side is right. They are merely DIFFERENCES and should be expressed and explored as such. There is no need to "win" in a political discussion. This is what I pulled from a Newsweek piece last week.
2. Offenses may well be measured in degrees. I was reading Carolyn Hax's advice. Someone wrote in about a long-time friend who had suddenly done on 180 on something they had both always agreed on. Carolyn asked, "Was it wearing plaid with paisley?" Her point was clear: There are differences that define and differences which merely describe.
My brain keeps reflecting on these items and churning them around. We SHOULD be able to politely agree to disagree on many things. That includes religion and politics.
Frankly, all of us (and yes, I include myself) should take some old-fashioned lessons in manners. I believe that our grandparents (and perhaps our parents) knew better than we how to avoid discussions that would harm relationships, or how to keep those discussions CIVIL. I am as guilty as anyone ("WHEN will you have an answer?") at over-pressing someone in a hostile discussion.
As long as it's a discussion, it shouldn't be hostile. Hostility is for situations where you don't believe you have any further possibility of a benefit from staying civil to someone. Hostility burns bridges. You never know when you might need one if the waters start to rise.
1. Differences of political opinion do not mean one side is wrong and one side is right. They are merely DIFFERENCES and should be expressed and explored as such. There is no need to "win" in a political discussion. This is what I pulled from a Newsweek piece last week.
2. Offenses may well be measured in degrees. I was reading Carolyn Hax's advice. Someone wrote in about a long-time friend who had suddenly done on 180 on something they had both always agreed on. Carolyn asked, "Was it wearing plaid with paisley?" Her point was clear: There are differences that define and differences which merely describe.
My brain keeps reflecting on these items and churning them around. We SHOULD be able to politely agree to disagree on many things. That includes religion and politics.
Frankly, all of us (and yes, I include myself) should take some old-fashioned lessons in manners. I believe that our grandparents (and perhaps our parents) knew better than we how to avoid discussions that would harm relationships, or how to keep those discussions CIVIL. I am as guilty as anyone ("WHEN will you have an answer?") at over-pressing someone in a hostile discussion.
As long as it's a discussion, it shouldn't be hostile. Hostility is for situations where you don't believe you have any further possibility of a benefit from staying civil to someone. Hostility burns bridges. You never know when you might need one if the waters start to rise.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
You update, I'll update
Don't get me wrong. Blogging is NOT a competition. (And I probably can't spell after 2 brandys)
However, sometimes I suspect a strong connect between blogging and facebook/twitter.
Is blogging merely giving the current day/mood update?
What do I say that has actual meaning?
Should I comment on the current movement by the small business community to support the current (in committee) Estate Tax bill because, if they oppose it, Bush's 'abolishing' of the estate tax results in next year's fiasco? (Not to mention a panic hiring of estate tax attorneys by IRS E&G?)
Do I ask if the IGS statement that several places in South America have moved several inches/feet westward is going to totally confuse a lot of earlier programed GPS systems after the Chile earthquake?
Roughly one year ago today (or tomorrow, Wednesday) I teased my broker; "Well, if you had told me Tuesday was the bottom of the market, I would have placed a buy order." I actually DID say that, totally joking, and neither of us realizing it WAS the bottom.
Or should I blog about a small, black cat, who is currently stretched out across my monitor, relaxing in the warmth, and hopping for an ear-scratch
Sometimes, life just IS, and doesn't need comentary.
However, sometimes I suspect a strong connect between blogging and facebook/twitter.
Is blogging merely giving the current day/mood update?
What do I say that has actual meaning?
Should I comment on the current movement by the small business community to support the current (in committee) Estate Tax bill because, if they oppose it, Bush's 'abolishing' of the estate tax results in next year's fiasco? (Not to mention a panic hiring of estate tax attorneys by IRS E&G?)
Do I ask if the IGS statement that several places in South America have moved several inches/feet westward is going to totally confuse a lot of earlier programed GPS systems after the Chile earthquake?
Roughly one year ago today (or tomorrow, Wednesday) I teased my broker; "Well, if you had told me Tuesday was the bottom of the market, I would have placed a buy order." I actually DID say that, totally joking, and neither of us realizing it WAS the bottom.
Or should I blog about a small, black cat, who is currently stretched out across my monitor, relaxing in the warmth, and hopping for an ear-scratch
Sometimes, life just IS, and doesn't need comentary.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
I'm ME
"Everyone likes......" Insert whatever you believe "everyone" likes.
WRONG!!!!!
NOT everyone likes the same things. In fact, some people actively dislike things that you wouldn't guess they have an aversion for.
Take me, for example. I honestly do not like
Disneyland.
Shocked? I could explain my aversion, but I won't. I am not on a crusade to persuade others to share in my dislikes. My negative views are my own. I might share them as an insight with a friend, but I do not intend to post them for the world to read.
This post was prompted by some e-mail chatter by and between people I know. No, they were not discussing the House of Mouse. But there was a certain, "We like this, so everyone we know must like it too." feel about the whole thing.
Yes, we generally share the likings of our friends. However, WE ARE NOT ALL ALIKE.
One of my best friends indulges in something that sickens me. She knows I do not share her passion, and she neither teases me about it nor rejects me for not sharing in it. In fact, I have even assisted her in her search for ............
black jelly beans!
Food likes and dislikes are minor. So-and-so doesn't eat _________. BFD Unless the ONLY thing the person eats is live octopi, food likes and dislikes do not generally affect our friendships.
But we should consider and respect each others differences before we assume that everyone we know shares our political/medical/religious/social beliefs. NOT making assumptions can be every bit as important as making them.
WRONG!!!!!
NOT everyone likes the same things. In fact, some people actively dislike things that you wouldn't guess they have an aversion for.
Take me, for example. I honestly do not like
Disneyland.
Shocked? I could explain my aversion, but I won't. I am not on a crusade to persuade others to share in my dislikes. My negative views are my own. I might share them as an insight with a friend, but I do not intend to post them for the world to read.
This post was prompted by some e-mail chatter by and between people I know. No, they were not discussing the House of Mouse. But there was a certain, "We like this, so everyone we know must like it too." feel about the whole thing.
Yes, we generally share the likings of our friends. However, WE ARE NOT ALL ALIKE.
One of my best friends indulges in something that sickens me. She knows I do not share her passion, and she neither teases me about it nor rejects me for not sharing in it. In fact, I have even assisted her in her search for ............
black jelly beans!
Food likes and dislikes are minor. So-and-so doesn't eat _________. BFD Unless the ONLY thing the person eats is live octopi, food likes and dislikes do not generally affect our friendships.
But we should consider and respect each others differences before we assume that everyone we know shares our political/medical/religious/social beliefs. NOT making assumptions can be every bit as important as making them.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Signs of Spring
While the dark cloud to our west moves closer, and the weatherman on the television talks of storm warnings and storm watches, a flock of 50+ robins were frolicking on the fairway behind the house.
I say frolicking, but despite my name, I have no knowledge of what the birds were really doing. They did not seem to be pulling up worms. Besides, it was almost six o'clock at night, would they be eating a heavy dinner so late?
But since I was born and raised in Southern California, I have seldom seen robins in nature. To see so many, all in one place was amazing.
Here in New Mexico, robins ARE a sign of spring. I see a very occasional one during the winter months, and few or none in the summer and fall. Spring is their season.
Despite the storm watch/warning, spring is coming to New Mexico. The grass is even trying to turn green. In the daytime, it gets into the high 50's. With less than 15% humidity, as long as the wind stays down, that is quite pleasant.
Spring! I hope the winter has been wet enough to encourage the wildflowers to excesses. They are so beautiful when they are abundant!
I say frolicking, but despite my name, I have no knowledge of what the birds were really doing. They did not seem to be pulling up worms. Besides, it was almost six o'clock at night, would they be eating a heavy dinner so late?
But since I was born and raised in Southern California, I have seldom seen robins in nature. To see so many, all in one place was amazing.
Here in New Mexico, robins ARE a sign of spring. I see a very occasional one during the winter months, and few or none in the summer and fall. Spring is their season.
Despite the storm watch/warning, spring is coming to New Mexico. The grass is even trying to turn green. In the daytime, it gets into the high 50's. With less than 15% humidity, as long as the wind stays down, that is quite pleasant.
Spring! I hope the winter has been wet enough to encourage the wildflowers to excesses. They are so beautiful when they are abundant!
Saturday, February 6, 2010
My ego, my overwhelming ego
The principal difference beteween a blog and a diary:
You never expect anyone to read your diary while you're alive
You expect EVERYONE to read ( and comment on) your blog
If I write a blog onto the internet and no one comments, do I really exist??
My ego needs an adjustment.
You never expect anyone to read your diary while you're alive
You expect EVERYONE to read ( and comment on) your blog
If I write a blog onto the internet and no one comments, do I really exist??
My ego needs an adjustment.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Just for Laughs
I ran across this little "quiz" on the internet, and decided that it would make a cute article to analyze:
"The Difference Between a Conservative and a Liberal
If you ever wondered what side of the fence you sit on, this is a great test!
If a conservative doesn't like guns, he doesn't buy one.
If a liberal doesn't like guns, he wants all guns outlawed.
If a conservative likes guns, he believes that he has the right to own a fully-automatic military assualt weapon with armor-piercing bullets that should not have to be locked away from anyone.
If a liberal likes guns, he believes that personal firearms should be limited to those appropriate for individual self-defense, target competition and hunting, and that those weapons and their ammunitions should be properly secured so that minor children and burglers cannot locate and mis-use them.
If a conservative is a vegetarian, he doesn't eat meat.
If a liberal is a vegetarian, he wants all meat products banned for everyone.
If a conservative is an omnivore, he believes that deep-fat frying is the best way to cook everything.
If a liberal is an omnivore, he believes that harmful products should be banned from food. This includes flavor-enhancers that encourage over-eating.
If a conservative is homosexual, he quietly leads his life.
If a liberal is homosexual, he demands legislated respect.
If a conservative is homosexual, he believes that he is a second-class citizen who is rightfully deprived of civil rights routinely granted to other groups.
If a liberal is homosexual, he wants the right to marry, to file a joint tax return with his spouse, to leave his estate to his spouse and to be treated no differently than anyone else.
If a conservative is down-and-out, he thinks about how to better his situation.
A liberal wonders who is going to take care of him.
If a conservative is down-and-out, he will gladly take the unemployment and welfare offered to him, then work "under the table" to get more money. When he gets regular employment, he will bitch about having his tax money go to assist others.
A liberal will accept assistance until he can again become productive, when he will re-pay the system (through taxes and charitable contributions) for what he has taken out.
If a conservative doesn't like a talk show host, he switches channels.
Liberals demand that those they don't like be shut down.
A conservative takes everything said by a talk show host as being the truth
A liberal prefers to listen to something intelligent.
If a conservative is a non-believer, he doesn't go to church.
A liberal non-believer wants any mention of God and religion silenced...unless it's a foreign religion, of course.
Until I read this, I had never realized that conservatives believe and practice the indiginous religions of the original people of this country.
A liberal is suprised to discover that Christianity, Catholoicism, and Judiasm are not practiced by conservatives.
A liberal believes what the bill of rights says about separation of Church and State.
If a conservative decides he needs health care, he goes about shopping for it, or may choose a job that provides it.
A liberal demands that the rest of us pay for his.
A conservative believes that if you do not have the money to treat a major illness, you should die from it.
If a conservative reads this, he'll forward it so his friends can have a good laugh.
A conservative will accept this unthinkingly and not reflect on it except as a 'joke'
A liberal will delete it because he's "offended."
A liberal might thoughtfully analyze this and reflect that one of the major differences between a liberal and a conservative is this:
A conservative is willing to accept simplistic slogans for substance and believe that the world can be comprehended in black and white.
A liberal understands that life is complex and that there is no "one size fits all" answer to most of life's questions.
Well I forwarded it to you so where does that put me?"
My comments are in black (and red) Feel free to chime in with your own.
"The Difference Between a Conservative and a Liberal
If you ever wondered what side of the fence you sit on, this is a great test!
If a conservative doesn't like guns, he doesn't buy one.
If a liberal doesn't like guns, he wants all guns outlawed.
If a conservative likes guns, he believes that he has the right to own a fully-automatic military assualt weapon with armor-piercing bullets that should not have to be locked away from anyone.
If a liberal likes guns, he believes that personal firearms should be limited to those appropriate for individual self-defense, target competition and hunting, and that those weapons and their ammunitions should be properly secured so that minor children and burglers cannot locate and mis-use them.
If a conservative is a vegetarian, he doesn't eat meat.
If a liberal is a vegetarian, he wants all meat products banned for everyone.
If a conservative is an omnivore, he believes that deep-fat frying is the best way to cook everything.
If a liberal is an omnivore, he believes that harmful products should be banned from food. This includes flavor-enhancers that encourage over-eating.
If a conservative is homosexual, he quietly leads his life.
If a liberal is homosexual, he demands legislated respect.
If a conservative is homosexual, he believes that he is a second-class citizen who is rightfully deprived of civil rights routinely granted to other groups.
If a liberal is homosexual, he wants the right to marry, to file a joint tax return with his spouse, to leave his estate to his spouse and to be treated no differently than anyone else.
If a conservative is down-and-out, he thinks about how to better his situation.
A liberal wonders who is going to take care of him.
If a conservative is down-and-out, he will gladly take the unemployment and welfare offered to him, then work "under the table" to get more money. When he gets regular employment, he will bitch about having his tax money go to assist others.
A liberal will accept assistance until he can again become productive, when he will re-pay the system (through taxes and charitable contributions) for what he has taken out.
If a conservative doesn't like a talk show host, he switches channels.
Liberals demand that those they don't like be shut down.
A conservative takes everything said by a talk show host as being the truth
A liberal prefers to listen to something intelligent.
If a conservative is a non-believer, he doesn't go to church.
A liberal non-believer wants any mention of God and religion silenced...unless it's a foreign religion, of course.
Until I read this, I had never realized that conservatives believe and practice the indiginous religions of the original people of this country.
A liberal is suprised to discover that Christianity, Catholoicism, and Judiasm are not practiced by conservatives.
A liberal believes what the bill of rights says about separation of Church and State.
If a conservative decides he needs health care, he goes about shopping for it, or may choose a job that provides it.
A liberal demands that the rest of us pay for his.
A conservative believes that if you do not have the money to treat a major illness, you should die from it.
If a conservative reads this, he'll forward it so his friends can have a good laugh.
A conservative will accept this unthinkingly and not reflect on it except as a 'joke'
A liberal will delete it because he's "offended."
A liberal might thoughtfully analyze this and reflect that one of the major differences between a liberal and a conservative is this:
A conservative is willing to accept simplistic slogans for substance and believe that the world can be comprehended in black and white.
A liberal understands that life is complex and that there is no "one size fits all" answer to most of life's questions.
Well I forwarded it to you so where does that put me?"
My comments are in black (and red) Feel free to chime in with your own.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Feeling Old
Some things make you feel really, REALLY old. My niece (actually George's niece) just fixed the TV in the sitting room.
It went out about 6 months ago, and since the other two TV's in the house were still working, it didn't really bother us that much.
But Chris and her husband Pete are visiting, and tonite there are 3 different programs on at the same time, etc...
So Chris calls Direct TV, explains she is visiting her uncle, and the one TV isn't working, and with the help of tech support, gets it all back up and running. She makes a snide comment about "old people" not being good at fixing modern TVs.
CHRIS IS FIVE YEARS OLDER THAN I AM!!!!!!!!!!!!! I swatted her butt after that.
We do have these little jokes. Her daughter (George's Great-niece) is my 'pseudo-kid' While in college, she came out and lived with us in CA for a year. She's now in her 30's, and a rising star in financial planning circles.
But yes, I do refer to myself as a 'technological troglodyte' I don't text or twitter, I am on facebook but seldom update, I don't own an i-pod, or a blackberry. I use my cell phone rarely. If I had not have had exposure and training at work, I probably would not have much use for a computer.
My justification is that as long as only George and I were here, and two TVs worked, we had no need for the third.
However, since it is in the sitting room by the fireplace, and Direct TV does have soft-core porn after 9pm, I may be VERY, VERY grateful to my 'little niece' for getting it fixed.
It went out about 6 months ago, and since the other two TV's in the house were still working, it didn't really bother us that much.
But Chris and her husband Pete are visiting, and tonite there are 3 different programs on at the same time, etc...
So Chris calls Direct TV, explains she is visiting her uncle, and the one TV isn't working, and with the help of tech support, gets it all back up and running. She makes a snide comment about "old people" not being good at fixing modern TVs.
CHRIS IS FIVE YEARS OLDER THAN I AM!!!!!!!!!!!!! I swatted her butt after that.
We do have these little jokes. Her daughter (George's Great-niece) is my 'pseudo-kid' While in college, she came out and lived with us in CA for a year. She's now in her 30's, and a rising star in financial planning circles.
But yes, I do refer to myself as a 'technological troglodyte' I don't text or twitter, I am on facebook but seldom update, I don't own an i-pod, or a blackberry. I use my cell phone rarely. If I had not have had exposure and training at work, I probably would not have much use for a computer.
My justification is that as long as only George and I were here, and two TVs worked, we had no need for the third.
However, since it is in the sitting room by the fireplace, and Direct TV does have soft-core porn after 9pm, I may be VERY, VERY grateful to my 'little niece' for getting it fixed.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
The power of prayer
If devout Christians are praying that the hearts and minds of Islamic extremists be turned toward peace, and the devout Islamic extremists are praying that the infidels convert, who's listening?
Maybe the real solution to the war on terror is for all of the devout Christians in this country to convert to Islam. After all, it is the same God, the religious source texts are the same. Why not? What would the Mullahs do if America became an islamic country?
Perhaps we could follow the islam of Indonesia. From here, it seems a little less repressive. Come on, Rick Warren, don't you want to promote world peace?
Maybe the real solution to the war on terror is for all of the devout Christians in this country to convert to Islam. After all, it is the same God, the religious source texts are the same. Why not? What would the Mullahs do if America became an islamic country?
Perhaps we could follow the islam of Indonesia. From here, it seems a little less repressive. Come on, Rick Warren, don't you want to promote world peace?
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