Tuesday, September 30, 2008

21st Century lawn mowing


This is our highly efficient 21 st century lawn mower, isn´t he cute. This baby bull cow, as Roarke calls him, has been here about three days and is making his way through our grasses. Evidently life is so sweet here he doesn´t want to find his herd or be found and I haven´t put out an APB letting others know, "your cow is at my house!" I´m secreting him away so I can avoid hiring a gardener, because of all the trades, the gardener is the last to show, if he/she ever does. Baby bull cow (b.b.c.) has soft fuzzy hair and watches us as we walk around but seems content to ignore us. Because he is so docile the kids totally ignore the bull. In our little sanctuary here away from the nosiness of town, I like that the grass can even be mowed in a quiet non-obtrusive fashion. Thanks for hanging out with us b.b.c. Stay as long as you like but no pooping on the patio, this mother has some limits.

Friday, September 26, 2008

A Problem with My Ego

I just returned from the presentation at Los Charcos and while I should be telling you all about that I cannot stop fixating on something else. My ego and how it has been injured over something so funny it makes me have belly laughs but I still wonder, aren´t I good enough? Explanation follows...

There is a couple that is well known here for being...swingers. I know I´m laughing right now too, this is good people, soap opera good which is fun sometimes. So this summer the Mr. propositioned another friend with "oh you have such beautiful hair and umph! it´s the total package that is good". Proceeding to invite her to step out on her marriage and have some fun with this Latiño Russell Crow, he really does look like Russell. Well, we had some good laughs and of course, that is complimentary to your ego but pisses off your husband, understandably.

Today, Russell propositioned the HUSBAND of a friend of mine. No,not that way. He offered to "make love" to my friend´s wife. Oh man, I had a really good laugh over that one!! That is a bold move. He must have seen something in them that made him feel like "hey, if I do your wife she will love you more." Indeed, he did say something about alleviating the other dude´s wife of anger thereby making it easier to love her husband. What the hell kind of sunglasses did he have on because I get a totally different picture of them!

My ego issues; I´ve known this dude for a year now, he´s never propositioned me! What is wrong with me? I know this is stupid, but my rear end looks mighty fine in my chocolate brown corduroys, good enough to bite my husband says...oops, let that one slip. Hey, my ego is injured, give me a break! I just have to think it must be the imposing figure of my husband, to protect my ego of course. And my husband will be very dissapointed when he reads this, I don´t actually want to knock boots with Russell but could I just get a "hey, nice ass!" sometime? My ego needs it but I don´t really. Now I will shut up because you have all seen the shallow side of me, hope you enjoyed the visit!

To my new friends Pedge and Kate

There is a new family at Los Charcos and I was talking with another amazing mother, Kate, the other day. We talked while waiting for the bus, she asked me about myself, I told a little, I asked for her story, it was a great conversation. The next day Kate came up to me and said "I´m so sorry I asked about you and then started talking about myself." Surprised, that is how I felt, that she wanted to listen to my story and felt like she hadn´t paid enough attention, when really she had. Go to Pedge´s post in which she noticed that we need lessons "in the civilized art of listening". My heart is light because I have found the quality of friend that recognizes when to listen and if she feels she hasn´t done her job as a person, she makes amends for it. Thank you Pedge for todays insight into human relations (I said that in my most official voice you know).

Thursday, September 25, 2008

And today´s Inspirational message is...

Okay, big short blog day, my mind is always awhirl with ideas! My inspiration this moment comes from The White Stripes and Little Acorns. If you don´t know their music, this is a fantastic song, unfortunately there is no good video for this song. So, here is how the song begins in an announcers voice, think Jim from "What Do You Know" on NPR)

When problems overwhelm us and sadness smothers us where do we find the will and the courage to continue? Well the answer may come in the caring voice of a friend,a chance encounter with a book, or from a personal faith.
For Janet help came from her faith, but it also from a squirrel. Shortly after her divorce, Janet lost her father, then she lost her job.
She had mounting money problems. But Janet not only survived she worked her way out of despondency and now she says, life is good again. How could this happen? She told me that late one day when she was at her lowest she watched a squirrel storing up nuts for the winter, one at a time he would take them to the nest. And she thought, if that squirrel
can take care of himself with the harsh winter coming along, then so can I. Once I ripped my problems into small pieces I was able to carry them,just like those acorns, one at a time.


And so I am ripping my problems into small pieces because "a burden in the hand is lighter than in the heart" I am gonna be the squirrel , thank you to the White Stripes!

And one more video tribute for Sebastian from the White Stripes also. This is to you my funny almost 8 year old, I love rocking out while you play air guitar and I bang the drums. In my world we are a family of rockstars and I dig that you LOVE groove-a** music. Thank goodness it´s not the millions of crappy "musicians" inhabiting this planet, and yes I did just pass judgement (I draw the line at good music!) And yes, again, the name of the song is "Seven Nation Army". I would like to think this is a critique of the "eye for an eye" which is so ever present in my life, when we open our minds to change we begin to gather tools. I´m gathering tools to help my children think outside of the box, sometimes that comes in the form of rock and roll, I´ll take it where I can get it. And now, prepare to ROCK!!!

I just have to say...

that I have been disappointed by the unkindness of others today. Today I am having dealings with a person of the Buddhist persuasion and am wondering how that person can call himself/herself Buddhist. There is no compassion, no graciousness and then they throw out little personal barbs. Big sigh. THIS is why I do not choose organized religion of any brand, the flock stray too far from the herder giving out the message. There has to be a lesson of compassion for me in this and I am failing because if that Buddhist were standing in front of me right now, they would receive a hard kick in the buttocks. Again with the catch 22, why can´t I let go and love anyway, why is this so flipping hard?!

A New Green Economy

Today I found a website called greenjobsnow.com. Saturday September 27, 2008 is the national day of action for green jobs, asking the Presidential candidates to take a good look at the economy, with the high unemployment rates, AND global warming. This seems to be a sound notion to pull the economy out of a slump and address the global dependence on depleting oil supplies, why didn´t we start this in thte 70´s with the first oil crisis? Well, as I am not a policy maker, I can only conjecture as to why it has taken and additional 30 odd years to get green power back on the table on a massive scale.

I remember reading Stud Terkel´s book "The Good War" in 1984, that was the beginning of my confusion over the issues of war. Somewhere in the book I recall reading, war is good for the economy, jobs as soldiers were created and then of course jobs created to build the weapons neccessary to sustain the war. This seemed to be paradoxical to me at the time, and still does. Yes, we create jobs, but is war psychologically the best way to employ the masses in hard times? I have a hard time believing that, the devisivness created in a persons psyche to build those weapons of mass destruction...I believe it to be detrimental to individuals and society as a whole.

As for WWII, if you ask my mother, dropping the A-bomb on Japan was absolutely neccessary to a.) prevent more deaths (in United States mind you, Japan drew the short straw on that one.) b.) end the war. Well, the A-bomb definitely ended that war and left a legacy, how future wars will be fought. I still hear about rules of engagement during war but it seems we must all be cheating when bombs are dropped from the sky and there is no face to the people below you that are now perishing. Let it be known, most countries conduct war this way now and I am critical of that process, not just one country. This year U.S. arms sales are projected to be around $34 billlion, that´s a lot of money for one industry to pull in, it´s also 45% more in arms sales than 2007. Does anyone else think this is a staggering jump? Furthermore, we´ve all seen footage from 9-11, why continue to make more bombs, airplanes can be used as weapons of mass destruction. All the "smart bombs" in the world won´t help if people are smarter and more dasterdly than the weapons being produced.

The point of my diatribe on war, arms proliferation, massive global spending for weapons the U.S. produces: Do we fully expect the weapons won´t be used against the united States? I do, remember my blog post about an eye for an eye? Really folks, you don´t have to become entrenched in government, policymaking and diplomacy to see the writing on that wall, observing my children makes a clear case for avoiding an eye for an eye. So now, I think about the $34 billion being spent by foreign countries on weapons. That is a big chunk of change that could be used for R&D of sustainable living and help an entirely new market of green power emerge, globally. A new emerging market to invest in that would be for the good of the planet, is that really a revolutionary idea? Definitely green power seems to be the most sane choice for this family.

All I am asking of global leaders is to inspect the choices, what sort of world would they like to create for their children and grandchildren? Are we so vastly different that we can´t make decisions that sustain life on our planet, OUR world? I believe in the Declaration of Independence: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." in 1776, we were declaring independence from a "despot regime" today I think we need to consider independence from oil. There is a whisper of change occurring and it becomes our job, as citizens, to stop whispering and project our voices for change. This Saturday you may not have a green job but evaluate your actions and determine, how can I make my world green and sane? And if anyone knows how to turn our cars to solar powered vehicles, I have a spare bedroom and a muy comoda casa for you to enjoy while we work on that!

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Junta-ed Out

With Waldorf schooling, so come juntas (meetings), lots of them. (Lots of birthday parties too which I am proud to say, they all get character pinatas loaded with candy, it is solidarity my friends.) Today I had a junta with Sebastian´s maestro so we can address Sebastian´s mid-line issues and now the word dyslexia has been said, once. Personally I´ve had my suspiscions about dyslexia and Sebastian for a time but gave up freaking out about it because what good has it done any of us? Nada, we are looking for creative solutions to help Sebastian learn the written language.

While I was waiting for the end of school and the beginning of my meeting this is what I observed at Colegio Los Charcos: the wind in the trees, a piano being played, children laughing in a classroom, cuentos en Español en la ronda (circle story time), a Blue Jay (1 meter away) squaking and pecking a beetle on the tree, a flute joining in with the piano, ki-ki-ki-a-ri from the gallo in story circle, and finally the old-fashioned school bell rung by hand. How I felt afterwards: calm, quiet, sure of my decision to live here and participate in Waldorf schooling as a family. The world is collapsing around us but in the space of the Colegio, there is safety, wonder, love and hope. Like a delicious, silky rebozo where you are wrapped into it´s embrace.

The meeting today with Maestro Thomas is the 2nd in a yearlong series for us. Maestro has decided to "make a study of Sebastian" and find alternative ways to help him when he reverses his letters, help him become a reader in a low-impact, low-freakout, no stress fashion. When I told the maestro how difficult it was to read with Sebastian at home he said stop, stop reading, stop pushing, let´s find a different approach. Whoa, I couldn´t believe my ears, education isn´t about struggle? It´s not about sitting down until you finish the miserable task of homework reduced to a puddle of tears? As a path of least resistance gal, I was in love. More importantly I was in wonder. My ideas of progress always contain an element of pain, struggle, conquer, I have to re-learn my ideas which I am gladly doing.

My homework, given to me by Thomas is; get Sebastian on his bike more often, enroll him in the Gravity Works class here (not gymnatics, but a "circus" class on trapeze artistry), have Sebastian mold the letters out of clay in print and cursive, massage his feet in the morning to wake him up and wash his face with cold water in the morning to help him enter his body. I said "Is that it? I feel like I should be doing more?" The response; "We are here to help you do the rest. It is a long aggrivating process alone, but it is not unmanageable if we work together." You know I´m crying don´t you? My children are so well cared for in their whole person the moment they step into the space of Colegio Los Charcos, they are cared for the way I strive to care for them and sometimes fail, but the message they receive is consistent: you are loved, you are important to me, to this world and I will help you always. Today I am breathing a big sigh of relief but hoping the calendar is free of juntas for just one week.

Global Electoral College

The Economist has come out with a great concept, The Global Electoral College, just for fun that is. I don´t want to live in a one world order. Link here to vote for the next President of the United States in a mock global election. The statistics are provided and you can click on different countries to see the percentage of votes per candidate. Pass the link on to all you know, it will be interesting to see what the global and then national decisions will be. I know it´s cliché but rock the vote!

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Guadalupe Loves All Mamas




I wear this bracelet as a daily reminder of the beauty of motherhood and the extreme sacrifices entailed on my path, though not nearly as painful as the Virgen´s. I´m hoping you all love Guad as much as I do and want one! The beads with the images are wooden with glass beads in between, on an elastic one-size-fits-all band and the bracelet is 1 3/4" wide. There are six images: 2 of Guadalupe, La Señora de Nuestra Salud, San Martin (patron saint of soldiers but an interesting man because of his pacifist nature), San Judas de Tadeo (patron saint of desperate cases-definitely mothers!), and Mary, Joseph and child Jesus as a family. The bracelets are $10, which includes shipping and handling to the U.S. Invite a little bit of Mexican kitsch into your life! Click here to order through Pay Pal.com and enter my email address, resirca@gmail.com, as the recipient of funds. Tell your friends and family and their friends and family too!

Today I am Grateful For Martha

Martha (pronounced Martá) is our domestic saint, the word maid is muy fea. Today while I was running errands she was here with Isabel and Roarke, this was the pleasant surprise left for me.

Tonight I went to find my pajama bottoms. For several weeks my shelf in the closet that holds my pajamas, t-shirts and the like has been a disaster, thanks to three kids that like to hide in closets. I´ve been meaning to get to this, although really I was hoping to just wear it all, wash it then fold it. Doesn´t matter, it was a disaster last night and tonight when I opened the closet door, everything was perfectly folded in neat little stacks. Martha, you deserve a better employer than this slacker mama but I know Martha´s secret because she told my friend Stephanie. Martha worries about me when I am alone with three kids, in the country where it´s dark. She helps me up when I fall down on slippery floors, we cried together one day because of a bad situation and she loves my children and they love Martha. You are so much more than the woman that works for me Martha and though I can´t tell you all that en Español, I believe you know that because of your acts of kindess toward me. Gracias para todos, Martha.

Thursday, September 18, 2008

My Hearts Delight

 
Posted by Picasa



Today this really is my hearts delight! Thank you ´becca, I am grateful your luggage was not permanently lost because this tea tastes of Uganda which is bitter and sweet and bracingly strong. To many more memories of red stained feet my friend.

Heavy Musical Interlude

This is a very heavy song by Tom Waits that has been heavy on my mind, "The Road To Peace". Though Waits is using old events in his political song to illustrate the fruitless nature of an eye for an eye, he causes me to think. How am I making a difference each moment, each day, every interaction I have? This song is another reason my failure to walk the road of peace with my children is so heavy on my mind, a parent works so hard to instill morals but ultimately our children construct their own value system. Unfortunately, their value system can be at odds with how they were reared, as is the case of one boy in this song. I know it´s hard to listen to Tom´s scratchy voice at first but his insights into this human existence are worth the effort. If you care to listen to more on struggling with eye for an eye justice, here you go. From the CD set "Orphans, Brawlers and Bawlers" one woman´s (not mine)representation of Tom Waits and his thoughts on the road to peace.

An Eye for an Eye in the World and at Home

Last night I watched the movie "Battle of Haditha" which if you are feeling particularly disgruntled with war you shouldn´t watch. What I picked up from the film was: the extreme difficulty in making right and wrong decisions in wartime and an eye for an eye is questionable justice. Background: The U.S. is in Iraq, trying to restore order and peace and prevent more deaths. There are Iraqi´s that are indifferent to the American´s, this is a time to be lived through. Then of course you have radical Islamic factions that have made in-roads and will destroy all American´s. How could any person, Iraqi or American, survive amidst all that hatred?

Very Quick Snyopsis:
The Iraqi patriot in the film plants an IAD to blow up a convoy of American soldiers, he succeeds in destroying one. What happens after that is of course disasterous, we´ve all read about what happened. Marines went in looking for insurgents and were told to eliminate possible rebels in two particular houses. In those houses there happened to be women, children and old men, and the story has it none of them were rebels but will we ever know the facts? In a country where to die for your religion at the hands of American´s will win you paradise, could we get a straight story? The outcome for the Iraqi patriot is tragic because he finds that in following what he thinks is right (but is reactionary only) his actions kill more of his innocent countrymen and women, than the evil American´s and he will have to live with those images of death by his actions. He never thought of the consequences beyond blowing up the convoy

This brings me to a point I was pondering yesterday. My children have this sense of an eye for an eye as justice. Because someone has done "X" to you, you in turn do "X" to them, you know! My observation, as a mother, is that people/groups cannot function with this brand of justice, this mama can´t anyway. The gratification of one punch should be easy to weigh against the consequences afterward. However, if Roarke walks up and hits Isabel (which he is want to do), what should he expect in return? Do you really think the other person isn´t going to turn around a deliver a punch? Because I think if a person is assaulted they will fight to come out on top. Yet continually I steer my children away from causing conflict, try to work peace out. But I am getting really fed up with Roarke and his three year old ways that are like a bushfire out of control.

To make Isabel and Sebastian turn the other cheek continually to Roarke´s aggressions seems unfair. To get my 3 year old to not behave like a brute is becoming increasingly difficult. With all my moral, ethical and value pondering lately, I find I come up short. Really short, because I am ready to say, to Isabel especially, come out of the corner fighting and wallop Roarke, maybe he´ll remember that and back off. But as in the film that doesn´t happen. The fight leads to a larger disaster, grand consequences, more offenses and then my family will stop fuctioning. I am trying to walk the path of peace with my children, but it is super slippery and today I cannot get proper footing.

Sunday, September 14, 2008

On Adventure and Love

In case you are in need of a film that shows just how strong the human spirit is, here is a trailer for "God Grew Tired Of Us". This is the story of a few of the Lost Boys from Sudan, their story is tragic, emotional and fiercly beautiful. I encourage you to visit your local video store or library to find a copy.




Our Experience in Africa:
During the Christmas season Sebastian and I traveled to Gulu, Uganda to be with our best friends, ´becca and Elliott Nimrod. Though this adventure, began with a joke:

´bec: come with us to Uganda to wean Roarke!

me: okay i´ll talk to Richard.

Richard: sounds like a great idea, book the tickets!

Yes, it really was that easy folks. I´ll endure cataloupe sized boobs while weaning anyday if I can travel to the unknown places of my world. Even 24 hours of travel with an almost 7 year old. Hell, one kid...that is called an accessory! Somewhere between Amsterdam and Entebbe though, I woke up with a jolt and said "Shit, we´re really doing this aren´t we?" To no one but myself and I only wish I could tell you I had been more eloquent, but I wasn´t. No the $700 USD in painful vaccinations didn´t register "Hey, we´re going to Uganda!", only a minor "wow, my arm hurts". What it took was being on a plane, cruising over the Alp´s, with my son´s curly head resting soundly in my lap to sink in. Well, I´m 2/3´s of the way there, live the adventure.

I recall, I felt vaguely at home, people cooking over wood fires, brush burning everywhere with that acrid but pleasant smell, limited water supply, random electricity...all of these we had become accustomed to being in Mexico. Painful illnesses...I never knew my bowels could hurt so until Octobert of 2006. Mexico had provided Bash and myself with lots of extra flora and fauna, we had 2nd world antigens but man Gulu is 3rd world, can we survive 16 days of this. Now I am thinking; "what have I done bringing my 7 year old here" and I pray for the best.

What is the best is to step outside of your white self, which is hard when you are an anomaly, and start breathing like this is your last breath. Soak in every bit of what you can, because it is such a short time, when will you be back on the continent of Africa, what story can you take back that may change someone as much as it will hopefully change you? When I finally started breathing, I opened my heart and I let go of all the things I felt I had to do, I opened myself to love.

The stories my ears received were so painful to absorb, my whitebreed existence knew nothing of this sort of pain. Grace with her lovely daughter, the product of rape by the Lord´s Resistance Army (LRA), didn´t love her daughter any less. Agnes, her policeman husband murdered by thugs in Kampala. Agnes was left to provide for 5 children, one child currently in the hospital with malaria. The mad woman outside of the H.E.A.L.S. compound screaming to the maid "REBECCA, REBECCA, PLEASE OPEN THE DOOR!" The malnutrition ward of the free clinic, children didn´t suffer from starvation because of lack of food. No, they suffered from parasites, worms eating up their insides to nourish themselves. Without medicine, my discomfort in Mexico from amoebas turns into death in Africa.

I went through my days there almost perfunctorly, would listen to a person if they made their story available, but I didn´t pry. Now, I wish I had pried, the interviewer in me. But in those moments of listening I began to know this woman sitting next to me, speaking in her lyrical voice, I am cooking with her, and she has experienced a tradegy in life I heretofore have never known. I want to give her my heart, my ears, my love and sit, chopping onions and listen. For the first time in my life. I. REALLY. LISTENED.

The whole crew sat around the campfire on Christmas Eve and listened to Grandpa, Jolly Okot´s father, tell his story. Of many nights, running from their compound, in the bush hiding from the LRA with his family, praying to God not to be discovered. Most clearly I hear him saying "It is because of God that I am now here with you today. Because of God I know I have to give something to my people because we have suffered, but we have survived. God chose me to survive and I will give what I can." Norman, Grandpa...you caused my son to weep when we left you, you caused me to open myself to what love there is in this life. How could one person be worthy of such a gift? I owe you much more than I can give in this one lifetime. Of two Christmas gifts I am most grateful, Sebastian´s birth, 4:55am Christmas Day 2000, and Grandpa talking about the joy of living Christmas Eve 2007.

This is my oh so short story of Gulu and the gifts received when you untie the ribbons. I sent out an email after we returned from Gulu and I will end this post how I ended my email: Lastly, I would say to all of you, go...go to the place where you think you can help. It could be Africa, it could be the house next door to you. Just go and let your heart blossom and work for change, our lives are depending on it.

Peace to you all,
biz

A BIG P.S.
Thank you to Richard for encouraging me to believe that children have a right to travel and experience at a young age what some adults are afraid to see. That we have made three lovely children is already a joy, that you believe in the power of change because of a child...you´re my dreamboat. I know there are few husbands and fathers that are cut of your cloth. Everyday I wake up grateful for you, for your adventure, for your open heart. I love you. Thank you to ´becca for also encouraging me to belive traveling with children and teaching them about love can be done at home and in the world. ´bec, you are a constant source of inspiration in my life and I value our friendship so much more because I never thought there would be a friend like you in this world. Thank you also for your quote "go after love as if your life depended upon it...it does." To both of you, I look foward to many more adventures!

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Musical Interlude

As a change of events I asked my children what their favorite songs were. Here are their picks, Isabel insisted that she loved two songs so she gets 2 posts. Though I can´t account for musical criticism at their young ages, I can attest to their impeccable choice of musicians but there could have been a little more love for Radiohead shown.


ISABEL
Liam Finn- Second Chance (she calls this song "sow the seeds to life")



and Mirah- Apples in the trees




SEBASTIAN

U2 and Green Day- The Saints Are Coming




ROARKE

Sufjan Stevens- Chicago (he calls it "All Things Grow")



MAMA

Tracy Chapman-Change

Just so you know I choose this because change is my mantra for the year, I hope no political party uses this as their theme song, though I can certainly understand why one would. I have no television access here, just internet, I don´t watch the adds going on in the states, just read them. I usually watch Frontline, Bill Moyers Journal, NOW, and Bloomberg financial television. Anyway, if this song is on television, I want you all to know this is not an endorsement for anything politcal or commercial, I´m searching the wilderness within with Tracy. Unfortunately the last portion of the song is cut off.

Friday, September 12, 2008

The Conversation We Would Have on the Porch

Betty´s post:
http://bettyduffy.blogspot.com/2008/09/i-cant-help-it.html


To my dear friend Betty, I miss you and your front porch. I miss the fact that we have differing opinions to bring to the table and stimulate intelligent conversation without bickering. The internet will have to suffice, here is the next round of conversation. Here we go...

Religion as a motivator for the support of a particular public policy agenda is perfectly understandable and appropriate. However, religion is inappropriate when used as the tool to gain support for that agenda. Once religion-based initiatives are introduced into the political process, those initiatives should be subject to the same critical evaluation, slings, and arrows that greet any other political initiative. Pointing to a religious motivation or claiming religious authority for a certain political position does not exempt that position from the scrutiny and criticism that are a vital part of the political process.

I do not want the government advancing my faith or any faith, religion over non-religion or non-religion over religion.
-Reverand Dr. C. Welton Grady


Grady states compactly and concisely where I feel Palin has failed in her remarks about God´s Will to her faith community. Palin´s full quote is as follows:

"God's will has to be done in unifying people and companies to get that gas line built, so pray for that," she said.

"I can do my job there in developing our natural resources and doing things like getting the roads paved and making sure our troopers have their cop cars and their uniforms and their guns, and making sure our public schools are funded," she added. "But really all of that stuff doesn't do any good if the people of Alaska's heart isn't right with God."

Again, I question Palin because she comes to her possible job as VP having stated her moral position, which I encourage see Voltaire´s quote, democracy is a catch-22 folks. However, I learned early on and continue to be fascinated by the three sectors comprising interactions in the United States: public/private/civil. The three overlap but I believe the Constitution still states clearly there is a separation between church and state. With this, are church and state not two distinct and separate segments, that can advise one another? Religiousity does not rely on a political system to make policy and Democracy does not rely on religiousity to make policy. Indeed in the Constitution of the United States God and the church are not mentioned as means to policy making, the founders of this democraacy liked the church and state in 2 tidy boxes. What public policy has been shaped by religiousity? I don´t know any answer to that question, please enlighten me.

As for Palin´s prayer, I find it disingenuous, this coming from a woman that just prayed the grass would a.) stop growing for awhile or b.) find someone to mow the grass (if this makes no sense to you, see my post "Ahh...the Weekend"). By illustrating this example, you can see I too pray for personal things. However, here is our daily familial list of prayers: the safety and well-being of our friends and family and their friends and family, the children of the world and the power of change within them, that we may know compassion, that we may see wisdom, that we may know forgiveness, and to protect our hearts from evil. Am I asking for personal gains? Absolutely, to help me and my family become better people for this entire world.

As a voter I am reluctant to vote strictly on moral matters. I am looking for a candidate that can end the divisiveness existing in the United States, help to solve moral issues (which are inherent) and address current issues American´s are facing. Where is this person? Do I think Obama would do a better job, for me and my value system? Maybe, the jury is still out. Do I think Mccain will represent my value system? Not really. Personally I´d like to see Warren E. Buffet as President and Steve Colbert as VP. We could have sound public policy, sound economic policy and laugh at Colbert in one swoop.

With that, I am saying I am a value voter too! I value my country, the Constitution, economic security, physical security which the Armed Forces do provide. We are all value voters, but which is a value are you going to elect members of government on? Anti-abortion is a moral concept, and the figure of abortions since 1973 is actually 48,589,993 with a 3% margin of error according to the National Right to Life organization. Yes, this is a staggering figure. However, what would society have done with all of those unwanted pregnancies? Would you have chosen not to bear children and adopt instead? If we make abortion illegal, how will public policy shape around the fetuses? Because it will become public policy if we ban abortion. There would be roughly 1 million more children born in the United States each year, how will we help these children? I need these questions to be answered by someone because I honestly don´t have that information.

The occupation in Iraq...you knew I would bring this up. I have been a dissenter of that war before it´s inception, I correctly predicted Bush´s hand in the war with Iraq the evening America learned he was elected in 2000. Two and a half years before the war. Clearly I remember this evening, sitting in the restaurant I managed, pregnant, with all my male gay friends and I cried. I cried for my child because I was certain with Bush came the end of the empire and the beginning of a lot of war mongering, was I wrong? You can check the daily newspapers and let me know, I check them also and I believe there is a large portion of the American public that would agree with me. The United States is f-ed up and needs fixin´.

We agree the election isn´t going to come down to two issues; anti-abortion and anti-war, but points do need to be made. Yes, I posit The Republican party in office is pro-war, despite Dem´s voting for it. Let´s face in, in the political climate of 2003, with 9/11 fresh in the psyche of citizens, no one wanted to be called a traitor to terroism or "unpatriotic". Couple that with general elections in 2003 when the Republicans took control of every branch of Federal Government, the pressure was on Dem´s not to pull bi-partisan tactics. Go with the majority, keep your head down and wait for better days. Yes, I do hold Republican´s largely responsible, the facts are there, the bed has been made and the Repub´s are lying in it, along with the Dem´s that voted for war. The question I want answered by those that voted for Bush is, how´s that working out for you? Because it´s not for me in a multitude of ways.

Advance to 2008 when we now know the story concocted around Iraq´s WMD was the witches brew. Why are we still in Iraq? Why has the Republican party in power not found a way out of this disaster? Five years and 1,033,000 total deaths due to war in Iraq (Iraqi, American and Coalition forces) as of January 2008, $575 million spent on the war in Iraq. The taxpayers of the United States have subsidized the war effort and subsequently a killing machine. Should I look at the larger picture of fetuses lost to abortion? Perhaps. Did I subsidize a woman´s choice to have an abortion? Not as far as I know. (I just had to throw that in to stir things up a bit and bring on the fact checking, I´m too lazy.)

As for heathen America, according to a Pew Global Attitudes Poll in 2001 only 24% of the population in the U.S. did not identify with any religious practice, hardly the majority and hardly safe, especially in the bible belt. Of those 24%, I wonder how many like me, have religious aspirations but cannot find the one brand of religion to get it all right? Because I have no one group, no proper church, am I uncivilized, irreligious? The way I choose to life my life and rear my children should be evidence that I am neither of those things. The ten commandments is the best foundation for moral values, but those commandments are not distinct to the Bible, many a religious text has put forth the same notions, calling it by different names.

Value voters, again, we are all value voters. I have stated clearly my values; an end to war, economic improvements, and funding for education in the States is one as well. (I have many other value judgements this is a sprinkling.) Why should values be confined to abortion, capital punishment, same sex marriage, and religion? Those are morals and there is a distinct difference between morals and values. I use my morals to choose what I value, my moral of say "thou shall not kill" extends to war but not abortion. Conundrum? Yes. Just as right-to-lifers may find war acceptable. Let us stop calling the kettle black, and this includes me, and work for change in this world finding solutions instead of just selecting the lesser of two evils.

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Freakanomics Post about Oil and Water

Wondering when the privatization of water will come, I read this great post on Freakonomics. Back to my favorite law Supply and Demand! In Mexico there is one gas station PEMEX, the nationalized oil industry subsidised by the Mexican government, we have only one price option, I couldn´t even guess how the price is set per liter. In this town we have a choice of purchasing for consumption, 4 maybe 5 brands of water, in the $1.90-$2.50 USD range for a 5 gallon garaphone, I use the garaphones that came with the house (i.e cheapest distributor, $1.90 per 5 gallon).

We have no water bill at our house as we are on a well in an area of San Miguel where the water table is still high. However, to use water we have to turn on an electric pump and the price of electricity is very high here. Lately, I try to avoid watering plants, putting water in the fountain, letting children play in the hose...the price of water has become expensive for us because of the consumption of electricity necessary to turn the water on and we are conserving. Supply and Demand only a little spin because of the use of electricty to generate water. Well, like I keep saying it´s rarely a perfect market. Still this idea of supply and demand holds up, I just wonder about the human consequences of charging for water, can economics account for that?

Cut and paste below or click on the title of this post to take you to the Freakonomics guest post.
http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/11/oil-and-water-a-guest-post/

This is Rocket Boy!!!!



This is Rocket Boy!!!!
This is what happens to Rocket Boy´s head when he breakdances off of the couch onto to coffee table....





I know there is a lot of dirt on his face, this is Roarke, but you should still be able to see the greenish-purple goose egg. He´s retiring from his career in breakdancing for a while.

Holes in the Road




A common theme in my life right now is the repairing of broken things, remember the electricity, that´s really just the tip of the iceberg. Well, in emailing a friend today I commented on just why the pioneers had so many children a)mortality rates b)cheap labor. Really it makes sense to live in large groups, so much more can get done with the collective. Since my kids are stalling out on the invention of a family solar powered car, preferrably a Land Rover, I engaged them in another task.
Let´s Repair the Road!!!

With the rains still coming a couple of times a week our driveway is in a state of disrepair with large ruts everywhere. Since Sebastian also had a playdate today, I thought I would capitalize on the use of cheap labor. See I really am American! We set out down the driveway with wheelbarrow and shovels, looking for rocks to put in the ruts. First wheelbarrow of rocks toted no problem. Roarke gave up on the large shovel in 3 minutes, he´s 3 that´s his best apparently, whining "This shovel is too heavy!", so our guest Martin picks up the shovel and marches into the trenches. Bless your real heart Martin, you have way more stamina than my three children combined! Sebastian and Martin shoveled soil into the holes for about 8 minutes, Isabel pranced around sticking her feet in the muck, and then they left me to the job while they went off to Sebastian´s secret place among the trees. Hey, I want to go to a secret place too, where nothing is broken!

Left alone to do the job...I predicted as much, well Roarke was there complaining about dirt in his shoes. Is it immature to want to tell your 3 year old "I don´t care sweat is dripping in my cleavage and I´m hot and stinky!" Yes? Well, I didn´t say it, I just thought it. All in all I managed to fill half of one very long rut and have collected the third wheelbarrow full of rocks to start again tomorrow, probably alone. Wait, that gives me a great idea, if I say I don´t want their help, they´ll rush to help me. I am a genius!

Epilogue: This wouldn´t post while we drove Martin home, good luck, because there is more to the story. After coming home at 6:30pm, Sebastian decided he was going to take this road repair earnestly and went to work, I had to cook dinner. As Sebastian walked down the drive way he said "I´m going to help you mom because daddy isn´t here and we need to help you make things easier." What a smile he brought to my heart, 7 and 3/4 years old, off to fix the road. Also, notice how he calls me mom but Richard is still daddy. For his mother he will be strong and grown-up but for daddy...Sebastian doesn´t think his strength and courage are as large as the idea of just "dad". But I know better, he is a constant source of courage to me and once again my heart is overflowing from the little gifts one receives in a day. My son today carried one load in this life, for me, so I wouldn´t have to and that my friends is definitely something to be grateful for.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

To the Owner


To the owner of these formerly red shoes from Wal-Mart (George brand, you know it´s Wal-Mart): Don´t worry, we threw your shoes in the trash, after it floated across the lake to bend a sapling in half. Next time you may want to not shop at Wal-Mart for shoes, it´s apparent their product doesn´t stand the test of time.

Our Beautiful Kids




Stopping my political heckling (thanks for the idea of professional heckler Duffy!) for a time, here is a brief interlude. I think my family is pretty fabulous, so of course I think you should also. By the way, my voice is dripping with sarcasm. No really, they are great and here they are.

This Is My Gardener





This is my gardener, admit it, he´s hot! Especially in the cowboy hat, Sugar Daddy jammy botoms and toting a weed whacker.

Frankie pestering the large bull




This is proof that our dog is crazy, look how she runs away from those horns, abandoning us! Well, not really, I managed to take this photo in the diversion while we were running up and away from where cloven hooves can go!

Sunday, September 7, 2008

Ahh...the Weekend

My weekend began Friday night with Roarke screaming at me from 8:30 at night until 9:50 pm when he gave up, exhausted, and went to sleep. Saturday Roarke woke up at 6:30 am and proceeded the angry fest from the previous night, "YOU. ARE. SO. MEAN. MOMMY!!!" Dude, I just woke up, I haven´t even had a chance to be mean. Well, we make it through Roarke´s anger gradually, by ignoring him while he tattoo´s his arms with a blood red marker. Now it´s official we are staying in for the day, Roarke refuses to wash off his tattoo´s and I refuse to receive the scorn of Mexican Señoras today because my kid is filthy, he did it , blame him, not me!!

Staying at home in the country with 3 kids can be so damn tedious. There are acres to run and play. Go away and play let me sit here with my Tecate at 2 in the afternoon, sheesh! Finally, I cave in and let them watch one movie, 5 minutes into the movie...boom! The power goes out. Is this a cosmic joke? Is this Rudolph Steiner haunting me and saying "You are a very bad Waldorf Mother, I will punish you now!" because it sure feels like it. What are we going to so now, because no one will go outside and play (what is WRONG with them?!!) Luckily I had just purchased watercolors pencils I set them up and cracked Tecate #2 (now we´re cooking) and we
drew some great pictures for daddy. All of the kids were amazed that this is a painting pencil, oh, the simple joys. Just as we were finishing up, the cows came to graze.

A herd of cows in the yard is an answer to one prayer, namely who will mow the grass while Richard is in the States? Then this herd of 22 loping animals came into the yard to help a sister out, thank goodness. Roarke and I walked among the cattle until Frankie, the dog, decided to go loca on the big white Brahma Bull that also has the largest horns of the group. He lowered his head and made for Frankie and I picked up Roarke and ran for higher ground, no time for painful buttocks while parenting solo! We went and watched the baby cows and were going up the stairs to our other patio when a big bull saw us and started ambling toward us, crikey enough with the bulls! Again I run away and this bull continues toward us. Just as I think he is going to fall down the stairs to the patio and we´ll have filet mignon and hamburgers, for free, for months he stops and just chews while watching us. I´ve had enough of the outdoor animals for a day so I go back inside to the indoor animals. Still no electricity. At 8:00 Saturday night I crank up the generator so I can sleep in my bed with only one kid, keep a hall light on and keep my food frozen.

At 8am on Sunday, the gas ran out of the generator, still no electricity. Called a neighbor, she had electricity so she calls CFE, the Mexican power company but the are unaware of any power outages. Later, Sebastian and Isabel are away, playing with friends so I managed a market date with Roarke. We ate a milanesa de pollo torta and had a giant serving of fresh squeezed orange juice for $30 pesos ($3USD). While eating at the little torta stand Roarke says "Look Mommy a bug!" Yes, it really is a cockroach climbing on my purse. I go to shake it off my purse and instead of landing on the floor, it lands on a little boys pant leg. Well, I can´t leave this kid with a cockroach climbing on him so I gently kick it off of him and try to squash it when it flips to his mothers shoe and disappears. Other Mother is looking at me like, "why the hell are you kicking my kid?" To which I can only say "Lo siento, es uno insecto." And that probably isn´t how you should really say it. When I finally sit down I think, oh, that cockroach came form this stand...hmmm, why are we the only one´s sitting here but all the rest are full? Oh shit, when will the salmonella begin, do I still have medicine...just then two people walk up to order "para llevar" so I feel a little bit better but I´ll let you know for sure in a couple of days if the roach was a foretelling of events to come.

That was enough excitement for me, we came home, filled up our gas can on the way home, which promptly tipped over in the back of the Land Rover when we went across the train tracks. Great now I have a stinking car, but, Roarke is asleep!! Now I feel like a rock star, but smell like a gas station attendant. We get home, no power. This is nuts, over 24 hours and no electricity!!!!! Some little voice in my head said, check the fuses. I am no DIY Queen, that would be my friend Kelly, but I check the fuses and discover why I have no electricity, burned out fuse. Well, I am certainly feeling proud of myself now, I still reek of gasoline and now I´ve fixed our electricity! This weekend I feel like I´ve graduated up to a new me, that doesn´t freak out over the inconsequential, well, except the roach and the bulls. When I step up to the plate I´m going to fix it and make it better, amazing what changing a fuse can do for my soul!

Saturday, September 6, 2008

Apologies

I am going to go out on a limb and apologize for bringing up the issue of Sarah Palin´s downs baby. This is why, this whole issue is a deviation from the seriousness of this election. Two weeks ago this was a non-issue for this election year, then John McCain picks this obscure woman, from obscurity land with minimal experience in the political realm, Republicans go ga-ga, a woman on the ticket, a working mother! Guess what, we are all working mothers, and as my friend Laura points out the Dem´s already put a woman on the ticket in 1984, Ferraro. This means for 24 long years women of the Republican party have waited to be put on the ticket. Hmmm....hardly the party for progress and if this is the best you can do, then really, you CAN give me a break because this is a farce. So I am sorry I played right into the hand of Republicans by reacting the way they wanted me to react.

This is not hate rhetoric being spewed by an Obama supporter. This is me, a woman looking at the qualifications necessary for a serious job. My point about the downs syndrome kid was this; anti-abortionists (and I´m using anti-abortion not pro-life from now on because as I posted previously I don´t think all anti-abortion advocates are pro-life across the board, neither am I, I believe it is a woman's choice to have an abortion, and I believe the children in this world deserve a civil society which does not endorse war or turn our heads away as children starve globally, I´m leaving at that.) are so proud of Palin not aborting a child with downs syndrome. I will freely admit that the statistics of aborted fetuses with downs syndrome is very high, I have problems with breeding a perfect baby because as I tell my kids "you get what you get and you don´t throw a fit." But that definitely does not put me in league with Sarah Palin or mean I think she is again...qualified.

At some point we have to come to the political round table and recognize what is truly important in an election, yet every election we the American public turn a blind eye to GLOBAL ISSUES and fall hook line and sinker for the abortion issue. So...there is a global economic disaster headed our way (which we started, aren´t we fab!), child-trafficking all over the world, wars in Africa where children tote guns to kill and be killed, entire ethnic populations are cleansed globally, the price of rice had inflated by 75% in April of this year continuing to climb hence, death from hunger is on the rise. Yet let us insulate ourselves from these issues, and turn the election process into a sideshow based on Palin; her bangs, her downs syndrome baby, her gun toting, her pregnant teenager. I swear this is the sort of thing Karl Rove and his cronies would craft. Should you actually want to learn about the new crafters of the neo-con Republican Party click on the title of this post, it will take you to "Capitol Crimes" on Bill Moyers Journal at PBS.org.

Overall, I see the GOP as out of touch with the public. I believe the level of bigotry in the GOP party has always been out of control, I grew up in a sea of Republicanism so don´t even try to dispute that fact, I have ears that heard all the nasty words about gender, color, religion, and I will be forced to call you mis-informed if someone says otherwise. Do all the candidates have flaws, absolutely! But McCain/Palin I cannot endorse just because a vagina is on the ticket and am disappointed that once again, come election time we aren´t talking about the issues we all face everyday. REAL ISSUE: Jobs lost in August in the U.S. 84K, that leaves an unemployment rate of 6.1%, healthy economies need to see unemployment in the range of 3-4%. REAL ISSUE: $575 billion dollar war in Iraq. Our economy is sick and it needs fixing, that is a HUGE priority. McCain and Palin here is what I say; Sarah, honey, stay out of my vagina, I´ll stay out of yours. McCain if you can´t fix my pocketbook and can´t make peace but can make war, please excuse yourself and your precious puppet from center stage and fall back into oblivion, I need some real change in my life and Bush Light and Ms. Bangs aren´t doing it for me.

Friday, September 5, 2008

New Thoughts On Supply and Demand

So, I just got off the phone with a friend, she tells me gas is $4 something a gallon in Indianapolis. HUH? The price of oil has gone down drastically, how is this possible? Consumption of the product is down, what in the world is going on, this is not following economic models, by golly! Well, I did say in a "perfect market" in my previous post. We are living in a flawed market, which means our wallets are still empty. Collectively we are saying, as we avoid the gas pump, "this is crazy!" and the consumer is being totally ignored. I´m still proud of the decrease in consumption and still raging at the oil industries, they have us by the short hairs people! However, maybe this is all a ploy to initiate folks into green energy, okay, I´m all settled down now. Still, the oil companies are wrong. In our protest of gas prices, let´s take this opportunity to cut down our dependence on oil, and I say this as a 2 car family (not small cars either). With that it appears that this weekends project for the kids will be...drumroll...build our family a solar powered car (after all we´re in Mexico, plenty of sunlight!). They should be done by the year 2020.

Thursday, September 4, 2008

The Real Power of Supply and Demand

My hobby has become the study of global economy. I watch currencies like a hawk, because Richard does intraday trading on the FOREX market, and am fascinated. When I was taking economics in college, why did no professor really show you how a market works, how all these bits and pieces tie in to strengthen or weaken currencies. Maybe that came in later but I was so bored with Econ-101 I thought my eyeballs would fall out of my head. The one lesson I recall is the law of supply and demand. In a perfect market, the supply of a product goes up when the price grows beyond equilibruim, this means your demand is shifting downward.

Over the past several months, we have all watched in disbelief as the demand for the dollar has been regarded as the red-headed step child of the global markets. Low dollar meant skyrocketing oil prices, of course inflation. The standard of measure for oil is the dollar, if the dollar goes down, oil producers have to raise prices to make a lousy buck. I mean come on what else would you have them do! What the oil producers forgot about were their customers, those of us that own cars and drive and fly away for lovely summer vacations.

Guess what you the consumer did! You drove down the price of oil by cutting consumption. That is an amazing effort, especially in the States where public transport is sketchy in most places. The price of oil has dropped from an all time high of $147.27 a barrel in July to almost $108 a barrel today. That my friends is a real lesson in supply and demand now the oil producers are listening, I think.

Well, this is what Market News had to say about oil, you will all be very interested, even though this is a boring subject, this is your real money after all!


OPEC meets on Sept. 9, with some expectations the cartel may opt to
cut oil prices to prevent a build-up of surplus stocks that could deepen
the slump slump in prices, which have fallen sharply from a July record
high of $147.27 a barrel.

Iran has said the producer group may need to cut oil supplies by as
much as 1.5 million barrels per day, or nearly 5%, to balance global
markets by early next year.

The U.S. government inventory data also showed total demand for oil
products, such as gasoline and distillates, over the past four weeks,
fell 3.5% from a year ago, continuing a trend of weak consumption in the
midst of an economic downturn.


Okay, okay, so we aren´t out of the woods yet, but look at the statistic out of Iran, they will have to cut oil production by up to 1.5 million a day. That is crazy and amazing. Look how much gasoline consumption has gown daown from one year ago, 3.5% may not sound like enough but that´s a start. Times are tough and we are finally exercising our rights via our wallets to say "Enough already, you are flippin´ bankrupting me to go to the grocery store." We are still worth something people and it makes me proud.

Sarah Palin´s Downs Syndrome Child

So, I really have to add one more thing in my rant against Palin. Go back to 2005, I was turning 35 and pregnant with Roarke. My midwife asked me, as she is required by law to do, would you like to have an amniocentisis done? I asked of course, why? Well, you are getting older and the risk of birth defect increases with age. I pondered for a moment when Betsy my midwife said "Elizabeth, will you love your child any less if there is a defect?" my response "Absolutely not! Forget the amnio, it´s risky, especially for the baby, we´ll deal with birth defects later on if there are any." To the media, who cares that Palin knew her baby had downs syndrome and didn´t get an abortion, would other women? Maybe, most likely not. Because she has a baby with down´s syndrome her job as a provider becomes a bit harder, but let´s not hand out medals here. If she is so anti-abortion, why bother with a tricky amnio, just to prepare yourself? Inherent in motherhood is the situation of never being totally prepared, don´t play yourself to be the heroine Palin because you choose to have the baby with Down´s Syndrome and not abort. A friend of mine recanted what her father-in-law says "I´m against post-natal abortion." Me too. There I´ve said it, hate me if you will but I´m tired of the hullabaloo. Good for her, she´s a female on the Republican ticket (gasp!), that doesn´t mean she is qualified to lead the citizens of the U.S. Get to the real issues, like fixing the economy and bringing soldiers home alive from a fruitless occupation of Iraq, oh wait we can´t because we´ve schismed that country. Oh, what to do...

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Train Wreck Headed Our Way!

Most of you know I have fairly liberal ideas of the role the United States should play for us citizens and our global neighbors. Looking at the hub-bub around Sarah Palin´s nomination for V.P. is bringing a rage in my soul. Today I searched for information on why I should want her to be No.2 for my country, I found very few reasons why I should. I have been a registered voter since 1988 when at the behest of my dad, I voted for Bush Sr. After the debacle that came with the reign of George the first, I made a pact with myself that I would vote with my head and my heart and not just vote a party in. Since 1988 I have been waiting for a woman to be on the ticket, regardless of party and see can she speak for me and my family? This is what Palin said that has my ire up and I want to whack her between the eyes with a spoon that has been at the bottom of a deep freezer for ten years, so cold it will stick to her cranium and wake this woman up!

"Pray for our military men and women who are striving to do what is right. Also, for this country, that our leaders, our national leaders, are sending [U.S. soldiers] out on a task that is from God. That's what we have to make sure that we're praying for, that there is a plan and that plan is God's will." -Sarah Palin

Are you even kidding me? Do not presume to have a personal telephone line with a God that sends sons and daughters to war to kill or be killed. Every day I say to my boys, no guns allowed, people with guns can kill other people. Yes I know, people can die and be killed in a multitude of ways but war...what has the war in Iraq solved for us? Osama bin Laden is still on the loose apparently so why the hell occupy Iraq? Sadam Hussein would never have allowed bin Laden in his country, he was a megalomaniac and supreme dictator, he would never have sought an alliance or allowed someone else to rule over him.(Case in point, The U.S. put him in power, he got power hungry to rule his own country without our intervention, we bagged him.) Please tell all of the loved ones of the 4,152 dead soldiers that you are praying for a plan that is God´s will, all I see is a gross abuse of tax dollars and the reverence for life. The God I believe in is not the poster dude or spokesman for your war.

Palin says she is anti-abortion, hey I am pro-life also! I´ve chosen my path as a mother but stay out of my daughter´s body. My goal is to rear children that respect life in utero AND the people in this world, it is the job of a parent to teach that indeed your body is a temple and you must respect all human beings. However, Voltaire once said: "I may not agree with what you say but I will defend to my death your right to say it." Palin, say what you want I will defend your right. I will also defend my daughter´s right to have some autonomy over her body if I know she has come to the best decision for herself and is within her constitutional rights. Having children is hard, I won´t resign a 17 to raise a baby unless I feel I can step in an be a good guide. Kudos to Palin for stepping up to that plate, she is standing up for what she feels is right, let my family stand up for our values. War is not one of our family values because we are pro-life.

The pro-life debate has long been a bone of contention for me when I meet anti-abortionists because I want to know; are you anti-war and pro-peace, are you against the death penalty, are you pro-adoption, if you are white would you adopt a child of color? Because if you respect life this much, your view should rightfully encompass all living beings otherwise I am want to use the H-word, hypocrite, in capital letters. I could rant on this subject for paragraphs because of the incongruities but on to the next quote which irritated me.


"I think God's will has to be done in unifying people and companies to get the gas line built, so pray for that."- Sarah Palin


HI-larious. So big business is God´s will? Getting a gas-line built and drilling for oil (which oil industry admits will take about 10 years to accomplish) is God´s will? Hmmm...it becomes clear with that statement that it is God´s will we wreak havoc on this beautiful planet that is bountiful for all creatures. But we humans apparently have divine right to treat the planet with reckless abandon. Get a smaller car, get a bicycle, go solar, become a better steward of how you use the finite supply of natural resources which is God´s gift to all of us, not just the companies that supply the consumer. I´m one of the people and I am not interested in drilling for more oil, I´m interested in real long-term solutions so this old world will be here for my great-great grandchildren.

So let´s talk about poverty for minute. This info came across Reuters today:

"As the convention was under way on Tuesday, a peaceful march on behalf of poor people by more than 1,000 demonstrators led to a brief confrontation of some of them with police. Pepper spray and teargas were used to drive the protesters away from the downtown Xcel Energy Center where the convention was being held."


Why was there even a kerfuffle? Poverty is an issue IN the United States, especially with the dollar loosing reputation and the sub-prime crisis the great Republic of States created. Poverty is not just inner-city these days, it´s people like me that were middle class until the sub-prime crisis swept away my husband´s lucrative commercial construction business. The blurb says a peaceful march, how did it come to tear gas and pepper spray to drive protesters away? We the people are listening to what the politicians say, we are force fed all of their opinions. Politicians should have to listen to the people and like Voltaire says ¨defend to the death your right to say it." Apparently not the case, it will earn you itchy eyes and you will choke as tears run down your face while your voice is silenced.

This is my rant, I am one p-o´ed citizen of the United States. What is worse, I have no control over the sinking of the Republic, I can only vote and pray that my absentee ballot will be counted this election. Sarah Palin, I am praying that God has a plan for us, all of us, to unify we the people and hold irresponsible politicians (republican, democrat, libertarian, hell you could be martian for all I care at this point!) to task. I pray to God that war will end and reparations can be made for the lives lost. I´m praying that poverty becomes non-existent and no one on this planet has to perish because they are malnourished. I think this would be more in line with God´s will and I think Jesus is rooting for this also. Jesus was one of the greatest revolutionaries of a millennium taking a stand for the little guy, like you and me, and I think Jesus would be greatly offended that this woman is asking God´s will be to unify the people and companies to get a gas line built.