How can you not return the call of the President of the United States? Evidently, if you are the Speaker of the House, you are allowed to snub the President in this manner. Does John Boehner think he is above the President? The last I looked, the President holds the highest elective office in the country; the Speaker is, well, the Speaker of the House of Representatives. As a friend of mine would say, this is just rude. That last word should be heard in as scathing a tone as you can imagine. The President is owed respect by virtue of the office he holds, not by the party he belongs to or the color of his skin.
I believe that a lot of the problem has been created by the newest elected representatives, who feel they have been given a mandate to do whatever they want. Look where that has gotten us. We need people in Congress who can work with the President and with members of the other political party, or parties. We need people who know the meaning of the word compromise. We need people who know history and what has happened in the past. We need people who will make the best decisions for the country, the citizens, not the best decisions for bankers and big business.
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Another Book Review
Too many people out of work; the people who do have jobs have to work overtime to make ends meet. Meanwhile, the insurance companies, oil companies, and financial institutions are making record profits and paying their executives huge bonuses on top of prodigious salaries. Does all this sound familiar? It should; it's what's happening in our country today.
I just finished reading Invisible Hands; The Making of the Conservative Movement from the New Deal to Reagan by Kim Phillips-Fein. As the name of the book implies, the author follows the big companies, the big power brokers and the top company executives as they made, and continue to make, the decisions on how this country should be run.
These relatively few people have somehow convinced the rest of us, including the people who represent us in our government, that they know what is best for the U.S., and should be allowed to do as they please. I think our government representatives have fallen for this line of thinking because they have been dazzled by being chosen to have lunch with, or play golf with, or fly on private jets with, these very wealthy narcissists. These so-called captains of industry are the ideological descendants of the long-ago bosses who opposed doing away with the child labor laws, who opposed limiting the work week to 40 hours, who thought they had a right to pollute the air and water and earth because they could make a few extra dollars doing it. Today, they oppose health care for everyone (only those who can afford it should have it), social security as an entitlement (which it is not; we have all paid for it through our payroll deductions), and any type of a safety net for a person who has had his or her job pulled out from under him or her, among other things.
It is very hard for me to believe that we have been boondoggled by these high-flying thugs for so long, when they are only interested in what makes them money. Why not hire more people at decent wages so each one doesn't have to work 60 hours a week? Families would have more time to spend together. Isn't this what we want? Or do we just want to lament the demise of the American family? Why not support the unions who are fighting for decent wages for all workers? These are just a few of the questions we should be asking.
Isn't it time we woke up? This is our country, and our world; shouldn't we take it back? And by this, I don't mean getting rid of President Obama; he's doing better under the circumstances than expected. I do mean getting rid of, or at least taking a hard look at the senators and congressmen (all right—I mean mostly Republicans) who spout business theories handed to them by big business, and actually believe those things work, or at least pretend to believe. Our country—and our world—is too populous for us to revert back to the good ol' days of the early twentieth century. We need to think about conserving our natural resources so that future generations will be able to live at least as well as we have. We need to consider legislation that would give support to all citizens, no matter their circumstances. We are, or at least were, a very wealthy country, and some of that wealth should be returned as services to the ordinary citizens, in the form of government services, well-kept infrastructure, health care, and especially education. We should not be dictated to by the vandals and villains who seem to own Congress.
I just finished reading Invisible Hands; The Making of the Conservative Movement from the New Deal to Reagan by Kim Phillips-Fein. As the name of the book implies, the author follows the big companies, the big power brokers and the top company executives as they made, and continue to make, the decisions on how this country should be run.
These relatively few people have somehow convinced the rest of us, including the people who represent us in our government, that they know what is best for the U.S., and should be allowed to do as they please. I think our government representatives have fallen for this line of thinking because they have been dazzled by being chosen to have lunch with, or play golf with, or fly on private jets with, these very wealthy narcissists. These so-called captains of industry are the ideological descendants of the long-ago bosses who opposed doing away with the child labor laws, who opposed limiting the work week to 40 hours, who thought they had a right to pollute the air and water and earth because they could make a few extra dollars doing it. Today, they oppose health care for everyone (only those who can afford it should have it), social security as an entitlement (which it is not; we have all paid for it through our payroll deductions), and any type of a safety net for a person who has had his or her job pulled out from under him or her, among other things.
It is very hard for me to believe that we have been boondoggled by these high-flying thugs for so long, when they are only interested in what makes them money. Why not hire more people at decent wages so each one doesn't have to work 60 hours a week? Families would have more time to spend together. Isn't this what we want? Or do we just want to lament the demise of the American family? Why not support the unions who are fighting for decent wages for all workers? These are just a few of the questions we should be asking.
Isn't it time we woke up? This is our country, and our world; shouldn't we take it back? And by this, I don't mean getting rid of President Obama; he's doing better under the circumstances than expected. I do mean getting rid of, or at least taking a hard look at the senators and congressmen (all right—I mean mostly Republicans) who spout business theories handed to them by big business, and actually believe those things work, or at least pretend to believe. Our country—and our world—is too populous for us to revert back to the good ol' days of the early twentieth century. We need to think about conserving our natural resources so that future generations will be able to live at least as well as we have. We need to consider legislation that would give support to all citizens, no matter their circumstances. We are, or at least were, a very wealthy country, and some of that wealth should be returned as services to the ordinary citizens, in the form of government services, well-kept infrastructure, health care, and especially education. We should not be dictated to by the vandals and villains who seem to own Congress.
Thursday, June 9, 2011
My Son's Birthday/
You do not know how much love your heart can hold until you have a child.
Today is my son's birthday; he is 44 years old. The time has gone by so quickly; and time has proven what I have known all along. Adam is a very special person.
Oh, sure, he has broken my heart a few times. The first time I can remember was when he was five years old and refused to sing in the Cherub Choir at church. That was when I realized he was his own person, and would not always want to do what I wanted him to do. Another time, when he told me he wasn't going to a traditional college, I cried for two days. It took me that long to realize that I couldn't plan his life and make it perfect according to mom. He had his own thoughts and dreams, and he would live his life the way he wanted to live it, not how I thought was best.
But I could not have asked for anyone better than the man he has turned out to be—loving, compassionate, sympathetic, hard working, and a wonderful son, husband, father, and now grandfather.
Happy birthday, Adam! I hope all your dreams for the future come true. You have fulfilled my life more than you will ever know.
Today is my son's birthday; he is 44 years old. The time has gone by so quickly; and time has proven what I have known all along. Adam is a very special person.
Oh, sure, he has broken my heart a few times. The first time I can remember was when he was five years old and refused to sing in the Cherub Choir at church. That was when I realized he was his own person, and would not always want to do what I wanted him to do. Another time, when he told me he wasn't going to a traditional college, I cried for two days. It took me that long to realize that I couldn't plan his life and make it perfect according to mom. He had his own thoughts and dreams, and he would live his life the way he wanted to live it, not how I thought was best.
But I could not have asked for anyone better than the man he has turned out to be—loving, compassionate, sympathetic, hard working, and a wonderful son, husband, father, and now grandfather.
Happy birthday, Adam! I hope all your dreams for the future come true. You have fulfilled my life more than you will ever know.
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Kobo Reader
For Mother's Day, my kids and grandkids bought me a kobo reader. Most people have heard of Kindles, Amazon.com's reader, or Barnes and Noble's Nook reader. I have not yet downloaded anything to my reader, but I am using it. It came with 100 or so books already loaded in it, and since I have never read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, I thought I would start there, just to see how convenient it was to use. And it is convenient. It is lighter than a book (except for maybe a small paperback), and I can adjust the size of the font so it's in larger print (getting old happens). Then I started thinking, which is always a dangerous thing.
At first, I thought that something like this would never work for children's picture books. How could they reproduce the colorful pictures that make the story for the child? But of course, it will soon come out in color. And the pictures may eventually evolve into 3D, so the child can really see what something looks like. And could these readers become interactive? Not sure how that would help a child's reading skills, though, and a computer can already do that. Also, how would you fit both the picture and the words to be read on one of these small screens?
We have so many technological advances in the past few years, I have no doubt that these kinds of questions will all be answered, and soon. If they haven't been already.
At first, I thought that something like this would never work for children's picture books. How could they reproduce the colorful pictures that make the story for the child? But of course, it will soon come out in color. And the pictures may eventually evolve into 3D, so the child can really see what something looks like. And could these readers become interactive? Not sure how that would help a child's reading skills, though, and a computer can already do that. Also, how would you fit both the picture and the words to be read on one of these small screens?
We have so many technological advances in the past few years, I have no doubt that these kinds of questions will all be answered, and soon. If they haven't been already.
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Good Quote
This quote was taken from The Week magazine of March 11, 2011. It says a lot.
"How about starting today, Republicans and conservatives accept the following two propositions: Barack Obama was born in the United States and he's a Christian. He may be wrong on a vast array of public policy issues, as I believe he is. But he is not an alien, nor is he a muslim, nor can his views be explained by Kenyan anti-colonialism. To argue otherwise, or even to hint otherwise, is irresponsible. The reason is obvious: Our nation depends on its citizens accepting the legitimacy of democratic outcomes, including ones that don't go our way. If we get to the point where we assume that our political differences can be explained only by some deeper, hidden evil in our opponents, then self-government itself is in trouble." Peter Wehner in CommentaryMagazine.com
You probably can't get much more conservative than Peter Wehner, who served in both the Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations, yet I find myself agreeing with the main premise of the quote.
"How about starting today, Republicans and conservatives accept the following two propositions: Barack Obama was born in the United States and he's a Christian. He may be wrong on a vast array of public policy issues, as I believe he is. But he is not an alien, nor is he a muslim, nor can his views be explained by Kenyan anti-colonialism. To argue otherwise, or even to hint otherwise, is irresponsible. The reason is obvious: Our nation depends on its citizens accepting the legitimacy of democratic outcomes, including ones that don't go our way. If we get to the point where we assume that our political differences can be explained only by some deeper, hidden evil in our opponents, then self-government itself is in trouble." Peter Wehner in CommentaryMagazine.com
You probably can't get much more conservative than Peter Wehner, who served in both the Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations, yet I find myself agreeing with the main premise of the quote.
Monday, April 25, 2011
Rain, Rain Go Away
Is anyone else as sick and tired of this rain as I am? It seems as if it has rained every day but two for the whole month of April. So dark and dreary, it is hard to get out of bed in the morning; hard to go out of the house. And, according to the meteorologists, there is no relief in sight until Friday (today's Monday, by the way).
And it's cold. I don't know what the temperature for the end of April is supposed to be, but it can't be the 30's, or even 40's, like some days have been.
The grass needs cutting, the weeds need pulling, and the garden seeds need planting; but nothing can be done because of this awful weather.
I just hope the house doesn't slide into the lake.
And it's cold. I don't know what the temperature for the end of April is supposed to be, but it can't be the 30's, or even 40's, like some days have been.
The grass needs cutting, the weeds need pulling, and the garden seeds need planting; but nothing can be done because of this awful weather.
I just hope the house doesn't slide into the lake.
Friday, April 8, 2011
Budget Disagreements
The Democrats and the Republicans can't seem to agree on a budget, so the Federal Government could shut down at midnight tonight. What's the hang-up?
The Dems say it's women's health issues. My first question is: what does that have to do with the budget? Shouldn't the budget have a set amount for health care, be it women's health, Medicaid, Medicare, children's health, or men's health? Why separate out women's health? (As if I didn't know the answer to that one.)
The GOP says the hang up is over the size of the spending reduction. Is this another way of saying "we won't fund women's health issues;" i.e. abortions? Who are these idiots?
From my point of view, it looks like each representative, from whatever party, is more concerned with grandstanding and showing the voters how great he/she is individually, rather than finding common ground to make this country work. Have they never heard the word compromise?
The Dems say it's women's health issues. My first question is: what does that have to do with the budget? Shouldn't the budget have a set amount for health care, be it women's health, Medicaid, Medicare, children's health, or men's health? Why separate out women's health? (As if I didn't know the answer to that one.)
The GOP says the hang up is over the size of the spending reduction. Is this another way of saying "we won't fund women's health issues;" i.e. abortions? Who are these idiots?
From my point of view, it looks like each representative, from whatever party, is more concerned with grandstanding and showing the voters how great he/she is individually, rather than finding common ground to make this country work. Have they never heard the word compromise?
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