anotherlook

Picture Courtesy of CNN Justice

Empathy is defined as the ability to identify with and understand somebody else’s feelings or difficulties. The lack of empathy is exactly what was displayed earlier last week-end, at Richmond High School, as a 15-year-old girl was brutally gang-raped outside a California high school homecoming dance.

Richmond High was the scene to one of the worse displays of total lack of empathy imaginable, as not only was this 15-year-old girl gang-raped but she was beaten unconscious while at least ten people took turns raping her and ten others watched and offered no help, but instead video taped the cruelty on their cell phones to show others.

Now this comes on the heels of the senseless beating death of Derrion Albert, who was beaten to death in a “mob-mentality” free for all, in broad daylight on the streets of Chicago with grown-ups driving by and doing nothing to break up the madness.

Even as people are showing righteous indignation over both of these tragedies, you have to ask yourself, what part does society at large play in the lack of empathy shown in both of these cases as well as many more cases of violence kids today are participating in. It is all too easy to place the blame on the parents but truth is parents are not the only culprits in the raising of children in today’s world.

You have rappers, rapping about the street violence giving verbal praise to the madness, rapping in a manner that puts females on a level that encourages disrespect and the iPods as the means to blast this nonsense in the ears and consciousness of the kids, on a continuous basis, indoctrinating them into the world of violence that you see being displayed more and more often.

You have video games that take you to higher scores by beating down and killing computer generated people on the imaginary streets. You have police officers beating people down in the real streets as onlookers are denied the right to jump in and stop the madness for fear of getting beat down and arrested as well.

You have the highest court in the land, the Supreme Court, talking as though empathy on the bench, therefore empathy in the world, is something that is not tolerated in decision making. You have Social Services and legislation telling you how to discipline your children not truly understanding that some kids you can talk to, some kids you can punish by taking toys and television away, you have some kids that only understand when you yell at them and still others who straight need their behinds whipped at an early age because each of us is different.

Then there are those kids who just do not get it until they experience it for themselves. Sometimes that experience teaches them and sometimes that experience makes it worse because it is too late after the experience happens.

Despite the fact that I am horror-struck by what I see kids taking part in today this lends credence to my statements that what society perpetrates it perpetuates and until you recognize your shortcomings and change your ways how can you expect anything differently from those you attempt to raise into thinking, feeling adults.

Yes, you can punish these kids by trying them as adults but the truth is that prison does not deter crime – isn’t that obvious at this juncture? Shut those kids away for life without getting to the core of what lead to the behavior and what purpose does it serve society at large?

While those you lock away may not be able to commit a crime on the streets again there still remains the attitude and the influences that allowed this criminal behavior to flourish and there will be others that follow this path of chaos and violence.

And that’s the way I see it!!!!

Supernova Sequence 2 CLIMAWARM

I watched Latino In America, hosted by Soledad O’Brien, a level headed, mixed race, beautiful young lady, the other night on CNN and for some reason it saddened me. Latinos have been in this country for a while now and while I rooted for Sonya Sotomayor as she breezed through her confirmation hearings, as I watched this programming I realized the depth of my ambivalence about being born in America and my ambivalence comes from not truly having a “heritage” that all other races have. I also recognized that America is not conducive to “family” the way other nations are.

While some blacks may try to claim Africa as their heritage, I have never lived in Africa, I do not speak the language, cook the food or share their day to day struggles – my struggles are American struggles, soul food, which is the most detrimental to your health, was the leftovers from the tables of the “master” and the only culture that we, as a people have is that culture that we have made up or been passed on to us by those who hated us.

I watched as the discussion, on Latinos In America, took a turn towards assimilation and how as the children of these Latinos attempt to assimilate here in America, the family has a tendency to break-down with the parents pulling in the direction of their customs but the children wanting to become “true” Americans.

I also noted that, without calling any names, one Latino lead on CNN seems to get some perverse pleasure out of cleverly elevating Latinos at the expense of blacks, more often than I feel comfortable watching. Now I have sensed this aggression for some time but I was so glad Wednesday when a guest speaker pointed out to this Latino that there were black Latinos in America as well. People are so fickle sometimes as they cling to being accepted by people who may accept them anyway but may not accept them regardless.

Speaking from the experience of being black in America and the lack of respect for my forefathers and their families, I see the breakdown of immigrant families as a destructive nuance of American culture.

My Russian associate tells me how his, born in America six year old, makes comical comments about his accent. While we both laugh at the things she says, being in America is already straining the sense of “custom” within this family.

Even with this strain so obvious, there will be times that this child will grow up and possibly come back to her roots where I, being born in America over generations of mixing, have no true roots to return to, my features are not like those of Africans and on some levels as I watched Latinos in America, this thought broke my heart.

Not only did it break my heart but for the briefest of moments I felt resentment and the thought crossed my mind that America is in my debt. I quickly pulled that resentment back as well as the thought of the debt and grudgingly accepted that, it is what it is and the debt that is owed is too late for me to collect on but as for my children and my grandchildren, America needs to recognize just how ugly their actions were towards blacks and change their ways.

I guess my lack of heritage has always been a motivating factor that leads me to fantasize so much about living outside of the United States – at least then I could pretend easier of a connection with a heritage if I was away from the states. However, with the world as it is United States is probably the best place to be when you are as broke as me.

Latinos are the fastest growing nationality in the United States. I can not begrudge them for who they are and some of the food they have brought to my awareness I enjoy eating. The Latin beat in music is appealing to my ears and I understand that even though the “doors” are opened to many in America, American people are not as accepting on all levels as the diversity of people continues to branch out and so on some levels, the struggles of Latinos have been mines to bear as well.

My advice to Latinos is that you keep what is yours, your heritage, your culture and stay unified because as I have experienced being black in America over the years, with the games that were played on our forefathers and in our continued struggle for significance and to some degree acceptance, blacks are on no level unified and that is our biggest downfall. Hang in there Latinos and welcome aboard!!

And that’s the way I see it!!!!

The Global Advantage

As I read this article this morning regarding Bank of America CEO, Kenneth D. Lewis who received close to $100,000 more last year for personal use of a corporate jet and all the other perks and benefits these bailed out business men received and are still receiving, all I could do is shake my head in disgust. These people don’t care about you, the very people that bailed them out.

This morning I listened to a news report of how Americans are becoming depressed over unemployment. The commentator related a story of one of her friends who had a very high level position, lost their job with no hope of that job being returned to them. Basically she stated that the job defined her friend and now that the job was gone so too was the friend’s image of themselves. This has caused many to become mentally confused, caused a psychological breakdown of sorts.

As I listened to this analogy, for some reason the rage filled faces of the recent town hall meetings flashed in front of my eyes. I came to realize that psychologically, because they fooled themselves into believing they are what they do, people have lost their identities. They are essentially lost souls floating into an abyss with no direction. Most feel they are too old to “start over” and are stuck in the feeling that someone has to be blamed for snatching their identities.

Survival is not for the weak of heart or spirit. Survival is about adapting to the situation whether you caused it or it was forced on you. Survival is about re-inventing yourself. Blaming others for the situation is counter productive and a bit irrational. Blaming others leads to rage and to me, as I listened to this news commentator, I realized how Obama is being blamed for the loss of identity these people are experiencing.

All my life I have known that there are those with money who basically control the rest of us and those with money will always have money. For a brief time the trickle down effect was in play however, now that the crisis has hit the gap between those who have and those who have been fooled into believing they have has become the abyss and many who thought they had, are floating in this abyss, lost, confused and suffering the consequences of the allusion.

But is Obama truly the blame for all these lost souls? Obama can not give you back “self” that is something you have to find on your own. The tides have turned and you no longer see yourselves through the eyes of your position, your job. What you should be realizing is that the position never truly defined who you are. Who you really are is defined by your will to survive in spite of your temporary loss of identity and by recognizing truths.

One truth that should be beating you over the head is that you are more than the position you held. Along with that truth should be that it may be time to re-invent you. Take some classes in a field that is growing. Use the skills you have perfected over the years of employment that you have had. Reassess your financial situation and determine just how much it would take to hold on to what you have and if holding on is not an option, let it go because material things come back around if you work for them.

Sitting around waiting on a Politician to change your lot in life is giving up your power – it is also not what a survivor does. Blaming others for things you yourself were gullible enough to believe is emotionally draining and it shifts accountability for your life which is your responsibility.

Jobs come and go for some this is a constant reality. There are jobs out there to be had. You may not start off at the top but if your skills are what you think they are you will begin to rise to the top but it may take a few additional college credits that will broaden your scope and make you more diverse in your perceptions of self. Those that have will initially watch out for themselves and their cronies as is being demonstrated by large corporations that have been “bailed out” with taxpayers’ money.

Bailed out banks are doing business as usual with this money they begged for but they are not, thus far, including you the consumer instead perks keep rolling for them – this should tell you another truth about who is really to blame about your loss of identity.

Recognize truths, stop sitting around waiting for someone else to hand you back your identity, reinvent yourself, take responsibility for your station in life, loose the anger and accept what is, for only through positive movement will a new you emerge and in the end the new you will be stronger, wiser and more adaptable.

And that’s the way I see it!!!!!!

Give Praise To God

Looking back, now that everybody was duped by the balloon boy story and the Heene family drama, all I can say is this shows how gullible we can all be at times – keep that in mind as the health care/insurance reform is going through the process and the lies are being told to dissuade.

I watched this for at least an hour and a half as it was unfolding. The balloon did not move as though it had a six year old in it but yet I watched with the thought of the possibility.

As I watched it gently float and spin across the sky on television, I was more amazed at the heights it soared as I imagined the danger if, in fact, a child was in there. However, as I watched the movement of this beautiful contraption, I knew there could not possibly be anyone in there.

Now that everything is out in the open and the truth has come to light that this was drama with a purpose, no more than a hoax, are we mad at ourselves that we were duped so easily that punishment is mandatory for the parents of these children.

Yes, the parents should be charged, yes, the parents should be made to pay the tab for the expenses incurred, probation for the felonies they will be charged with but involving Child Protective Services (CPS), threatening to take the kids away from their parents, jail time all seem a bit much to me.

Different people raise their children in different ways. What you may view as dangerous another parent may view as a learning experience. I am sure these parents are not putting their children in harms way without a clue, chasing storms. These children may enjoy riding with their parents chasing storms.

It is no different in fact it is less violent, than putting a gun in the hands of a seven year old and allowing them to kill a defenseless animal on a hunt. Those kids are saver in the hands of their parents than putting them in the system, in a foster home where they can easily be abused or murdered. CPS does not always have such a good track record themselves so how can they judge these people. I definitely would not want any of my relatives stuck in that system.

While some may say, me included, that it was over the line to have those kids taking part in a lie. When the six year old told the truth there were no repercussions for telling the truth. Don’t be so quick to criticize what you do not understand. Just because you would never take your kids out to chase a storm does not make it wrong. I would never put a gun into the hands of a seven year old but people do it all the time.

I would never allow my young children to curse in front of me, but people allow that. I would never allow one child to bully another child but people allow that. What you need to be doing is making sure you are raising your own children in the right way – nobody is perfect when it comes to raising children sometimes you learn as you go. Whether you have children or not how can you sit in judgment of this “family” and the lessons they chose to teach their children.

Drama, the Heene family is full of it. That’s who they are, that’s how they met, that’s what they are used to, that’s how they live their lives and it is their life to live. Those are their children and as parents they have rights to teach their children what they want to teach them. Get off your pedestal stop standing in judgment of someone else’s life and stop being so ready to send these kids through a system that is overloaded, uncaring and full of possible danger.

Reality television was not invented by the Heene family and as much as I dislike reality television it seems to be the thing at this particular time. As a result, these are the things you can expect, drama from people who want that attention.

You created the Heene’s and now you want to punish them for acting out. I just don’t understand the thought process of people. I remember when the Octomom was receiving death threats after she made a choice to have more babies. You would rather see her die than allow her to raise the children she chose to have – that was so irrational.

You yell about this freedom and that freedom for yourself but are constantly attempting to limit someone else’s freedoms every chance you get – how hypocritical.

And that’s the way I see it!!!!

24 MONSTER PULLBACK TRUCKS

Recently Morehouse College, an all-male college in the Atlanta, Georgia area, has instituted a new dress code for its students. According to the new dress code, things like sagging pants, clothes with derogatory language, do-rags, jeans, hats/caps or hoods and sunglasses are not to be worn to class or to school sponsored events and some of these articles are not to be worn on campus at all. The penalty can be as strong as academic suspension.

I say, it’s about time!!!! I say this style of dress should be prohibited in public schools as well (K-12). I say part of education is to teach children that there is a time and place for everything, that boundaries are important, in most situations. Once you start crossing boundaries, things sometimes become chaotic as has happened in schools across America.

Along with the dress code should be a restriction on foul language. Some high school teachers allow kids to curse in front of them with no consequence to the foul language. I have seen it happen too many times. Those children feel that if they can curse in school, they can come on the school bus and curse. Their whole conversation consists of f*** this, f*** that, you motherf***in’ b****.

When you write a child up for cursing on the school bus, after repeated warnings, nothing happens to that child and the child feels it is ok to use this language. The bus driver loses some control if they do not know how to force the issue without involving the school.

Teaching a child respect is a community thing because a parent is not always around. You teach a child to respect themselves as well as others and foul mouthed conversations do not show respect. Children today use dress as a form of disrespect. I have seen children on the way to school with pants sagging way below their behind. Is this a subtle message telling the world to kiss their a**?

While everybody runs around screaming about their freedom to say this or do that, I feel I have freedoms that you infringe upon by showing me your underwear, by cursing in my presence, by acting out with violence, by using the language Rush Limbaugh uses in his divisive rants, by demanding that I can not hang the Christmas decorations of my religious choice in my mall windows, as well as any number of other acts that are permitted in our society today.

In fact, back to Morehouse, they have prohibited the wearing of female clothing, high heel shoes, tank tops etc. and the few openly gay students there are taking offense. These are the things that trouble me about gay guys especially and to some extent gay women as well. Gay guys can not have it both ways either you are a boy or a girl. If you feel so womanly that you are compelled to dress in female clothing, then you do not need to be going to an all-male school.

Boundaries again come into play here. This is what concerns me about the “don’t ask, don’t tell” concept in the military. Will the breakdown of don’t ask, don’t tell create more openly gay men in the military? Will they be allowed to dress in female clothing on their down time while attempting to act out in womanly ways? Will your young son be caught in a life or death situation, laying in a ditch with an openly gay man who proposes a “blow job” to your son prior to possible death?

While all gay guys/females are not on this level there are those that are and I have known enough gay guys to understand that they are constantly on the prowl and that they have been known to pull in a “newbie” every now and then if only for the experience.

I say boundaries are useful in the real world. Dress codes teach lessons and it takes a community to raise a child – we are all failing our children when we abuse the freedoms that have been granted, sending a clear message to our children that rules are made to be broken, that boundaries interfere with freedoms.

And that’s the way I see it!!!!

Flexfit Baseball Hat - Solid Color with Contrast Stitching

I watched the video of the death of Derrion Albert yesterday on the news and was appalled at the shear violence, the mob mentality, the excitement of the participants and the lack of concern of the passersby’s driving through the milieu with obvious disinterest.

What the hell is this world coming to when a sixteen year old child can be beaten to death on the streets in broad daylight, with people passing by and not giving a f***. While the consensus seems to be that those who participated have no “home training,” that they are “unsalvageable” what is the excuse for those who passed by as though nothing was happening?

Have we become so afraid of the violence that we are desensitized to death on the streets? As the video tape is rolling, capturing the violence, who had a rational thought of attempting to stop the madness – nobody. As cars attempted to get through the mob of students acting out, who had the courage to stop their car and attempt to break up the fight – nobody.

This was a disturbing display of the selfish uncaring detachment people show in today’s world yet you sit in judgment of the participants of the violence, even the parents of those who participated, when in actuality you are no better, as adults, driving through the madness with one thought on your mind – let me get away from here before I am somehow touched by the madness not really understanding that in witnessing and not acting, you are touched by the madness.

Yes, Chicago is experiencing a rise in teen deaths, yes the violence is getting out of hand but we have been here before in different cities across America. Children are coming to school armed and deadly to avenge wrongs that have been perpetrated against them. Gang warfare is happening in the streets of major cities, violence and anger is on the rise in both teens and adults as demonstrated in the protests against health care/insurance reform.

Cops are being videotaped beating and kicking suspects, brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers, aunts, uncles and friends are being sent off to war only to come back in caskets. Turn on your television at any given time and the violence you see does not always come from Hollywood but are the depictions of real life violence; wars, protest, angry people, hate filled faces, panicked children running from schools where rampages of death are taking place.

Yet, it is so much easier to place the violence of children on the parents of the child, which may have a direct bearing on the situation, however, this violence goes much deeper than dysfunctional households – it goes to the dysfunctionality of the society we live in. As I have always said, society gets the level of violence it perpetrates on its citizens. You reap what you sow; what you put out there is returned to you tenfold.

As you drive past the violence on the streets rushing to get to your uptown housing, you need to be recognizing that the violence that you ignore will soon be in a neighborhood near you. You need to recognize the old saying that it takes a village to raise a child and dedicate yourself to being part of that village.

You need to take responsibility for your lack of compassion, your insensitivities, your need not to get involved, your uncaring, hard hearted attitudes, your own irrational, selfish, hate filled actions that allows for things like this to happen right in front of your faces – you need to CARE!!!!

But most of all, as selfishness has become the norm, you need to recognize that this could be your child, your grandchild, your niece or nephew because violence is indiscriminate, bullets claim lives of the innocent and irrational behaviors touch every life that witnesses the madness.

And that’s the way I see it!!!!!

Argyle Backpack

Is money the root of all evil or does evil naturally reside in the heart of mankind. As I view the Bernie Madoff’s of the world in the form of Insurance Companies, Banks, Mortgage Lenders, Car Manufactures and all those who took part in the material greed that eventually brought us to our knees financially, as well as witnessing how money seems to be the key element in the discussions on health care/insurance reform, I began to recognize how material gain has been such a motivating negativity throughout history.

Senator Baucus, best know for the new insurance reform legislation he has brought to the table in recent days, has essentially outlined a better way for insurance companies to continue on their road of making more money off “we the people” by making health care insurance mandatory for every individual.

While in theory, this idea is a good idea, technically, by making insurance “mandatory” is this not more government control over your individual lives, something the protesters seem to be totally against. Also, because of his affiliations with the health care industry, his motivations have to stand in question.

Is this proposal Baucus has submitted guided by the fact that over recent years, Baucus has received over $4 million dollars from the health care/insurance fields? How can you trust his proposals based on this large amount of money he has received from the very people the health care/insurance reform is attempting to pull in the reins on?

While he is promoting co-ops, how effective would co-ops be on a large scale and how would these co-ops react to a person who has a pre-determined illness of any type? He is also promoting the expansion of Medicare/Medicaid to be more inclusive to a larger portion of society. Medicare is run by the government, thus making government involved more with your medical coverage – is this a play on words/concepts, or am I the one that is confused.

Power, greed, material gains, land ownership, control seem to be what motivates people to act out in uncaring, egotistical, in the moment ways that always seems to lead to madness on one level or another.

Corrupt governments, in other countries, which keep most of its people living way under the poverty level while government officials are “living large” in plush, comfortable surroundings all indicate that money and power have a tendency to corrupt a man’s soul but I say that man’s soul is corrupt and he sees more power in the money.

Recently, I have been avoiding politics in my personal life. I had begun to feel dirty as though I was actually rolling in the mud with the “pigs” that run this country. I had begun to feel angry at the sight of the protesters’ signs and the talk of racism that still has the capacity to, literally, turn my stomach with the extent of the denials and the irrational acts of racially conscious Americans.

Instead I have been taking the journey into the future with Nostradamus, his predictions of 2012 and scientist who are full of scenarios of what the end could be like. Secretly, I am beginning to hope that it will be as bad as the predictions have outlined for out of the tragedies predicted, maybe, just maybe mankind will become aware that united we have so much more to gain than divided. Something serious needs to shake up mankind to make him see the errors of his ways because those ways are becoming more and more destructive.

It seems that in horrific times, people seem ready to stand besides each other, regardless of race, religion, or anything else that has a tendency to divide, and work for the common good, but only until the crisis is over.

How long does a crisis have to last before people recognize the true meaning of life on earth? Truth be told, as I look around the world as it is today, I see a crisis that is ready to explode and bring the predictions of Nostradamus, the Mayan Indians and Revelations to our doorsteps – how will you respond? How will you survive when money is not the ultimate goal but true survival is all that matters?

Some have predicted a spiritual awakening based on the line up of the planets in 2012. If your God were to meet you face to face and look you squarely in the eyes, would he/she be able to witness a soul that has been true to the concepts of peace, love, forgiveness or would they see the ugliness that has been corrupting your very being and the deeds you have committed tainted by this ugliness in you soul.

While no one really knows the soul of another, what that person thinks or truly feels, your actions, in any given situation, tells a great deal about who you are on the inside. While you may be able to deny with your lips what you really feel, your actions are the road map to your heart – you better recognize before it’s too late.

And that’s the way I see it!!!!

Fatal Flaw

Since I have had my fill of politics, health care reform, war and I am on racism overload, I have decided to put my two cents in on Chris Brown and Rihanna.

As a victim of domestic violence and having watched the Larry King Show with Chris Brown as his guest, I got the impression Chris did not want to discuss the details of how this came about because, just maybe, he was not the one to throw the first punch.

This could be why he said he would rather Rihanna tell the story – he was leaving it up to her to come clean, in her own time and in her own way.

Regardless of who threw the first punch, Rihanna was the one with visible destruction to her body. Now watching Chris on Larry King, his facial expressions that showed lots of attitude at times but also showed embarrassment and guilt for what he had done, I know that his arrogance, something else I saw on his face, played into the level of abuse that Rihanna suffered through.

While I believe Chris is genuinely sorry for the extent of the violence and embarrassed that it happened, I did not see a “cured” Chris Brown. Truth is, before he gets back into a relationship he needs lots of counseling. Chris needs to recognize that he is the “stronger” sex, in most cases, with brute force alone.

He will always be able to beat a woman in physical battle but he should never allow a verbal confrontation with a woman to lead to a physical battle even if that woman puts her hands on him first – just walk away.

Now I know that walking away, sometimes is not that easy because women can become very aggressive when they feel they are not being heard and sometimes it gets to the point where there is no time like the present time to have a discussion. Counseling could help him find alternatives to the violence it could also help him get to the root of the violence.

This is were males need to be able to simply say, “Look, I am not seeing things clearly right now” or “I’m too angry to talk right now can we have this discussion later, after I have thought about it.”

The key to statements like this however is that eventually the conversation needs to take place or else the rage builds inside the female and the next time it will be a little bit harder to walk away using these words.

A “sister” will get up in your face and talk so much trash that sometimes it is hard to get a word in edgewise sometimes you just have to let her rant while you listen just so she can get it out of her system.

Respect is another thing that can push a person over the edge. Yes, Chris is a “grown” man and he may think he can talk to whatever women he wants to talk to whenever he wants to talk to her but expect aggression if you are doing it in front of someone who is suppose to be your “woman.”

In a jealous rage, things happen and when provoked to a jealous rage, arrogance is not the answer, so why even get it started. Respect your “woman” at all times – you can be a dog at another time but never in the presence of your woman. Chris is too young and too cute to be tied down to one woman right now anyway.

While I do not know the details of the confrontation – only Chris and Rihanna really know what truly happened, my experiences in life lead me to these words. I also know inside myself that I have been forever damaged by the domestic violence that I have experienced in my life to the point where I may be the first one to throw a punch if you walk into my space with an attitude and I have an attitude based on treatment that has been handed out by you.

In today’s world, men do not respect women; women do not respect women and young folks are suffering the consequences of this attitude. Domestic violence sometimes is about control but it can also be about a lack of ability to communicate effectively. Whatever the reason for domestic violence, not all men who participate in domestic violence can be put on the same level.

As was the case with my husband, who showed some of the same arrogance I saw in Chris Brown, he was fighting some internal demons that he was never able to conquer. While I tried to get him to open up and truly felt worse for him than I did myself, he never did open up to me. We eventually divorced, he remarried, for the third time, but he never changed and took that violence to the third marriage.

Those demons led him to alcohol, drugs and finally either suicide or an untimely death at the hands of another. The official record says suicide but even to this day, somewhere deep inside, I just can not believe he actually committed suicide – but I was not there so I do not know for sure.

All I do know for sure is that violence is never the answer and if you feel you “need” violence in the relationship for it to work, the reality is you don’t “need” that relationship.

And that’s the way I see it!!!!

Sometimes, in this life, living in America, I feel I am living in the Twilight Zone. Time and time again people show they have more concern for animals than they do for people and I wonder about priorities. As the debate as to whether Michael Vicks should be allowed to play football heats up, all I can do is shake my head and wonder WTH is wrong with you people.

Kids are being kidnapped, molested and murdered, teenagers are dying on the streets in the war zones that are taking over our neighborhoods, sons and daughters, mothers and fathers are going off to die, in not one but two wars, in foreign countries.

Your Government, in the form of those you have elected to protect your best interest, with the aid of special interest groups, is lying to you about health care in order to continue to allow others to make money off you. Armed protesters are coming to town hall meetings to discuss health care and you think that is “normal” and “acceptable” with the growing rage associated with the debate on health care.

Americans are living on the streets, service men and women are coming home from war, mentally and physically depleted, ending up homeless, lacking proper care for the injuries received by protecting your freedoms. The use of drugs is rampant and the crimes associated with the “drug war” are intensifying.

While these are just some of the things that are happening in this country, there are worse things happening in the world, suicide bombings, torture, rape, starvation, disease, recruitment of young kids for the mission of murder, ethnic/religious cleansing in some areas, a whole host of madness and despair.

Yet your voices are the loudest about the murder of animals time and time again. Sure these things should not happen. It shows a level of cruelty that is ugly, yet Vicks spent more time in jail than some murderers of people. This shows the lopsidedness of the justice system.

Cock fights, dog fights, people get in the ring and fight, wild animals are kept in cages, as pets or zoo animals to allow people to come and peer at them, elephants being killed for their ivory, hunting of animals, unless you are a vegetarian, you eat animals, dogs roam the streets, with no home, no way of feeding themselves beyond what they can find in garbage cans, experiments are done on animals of all types, yet you want Vicks to spend his life in constant punishment for the horrific crimes he committed against dogs. Do you know how ridiculous you people sound?

Dog fighting, like people getting into the ring and bashing each other to bloody pulps, is a way of life to some. Though it may be illegal, it happens and there are many supporters of it, people who make money on it, people who attend these dog fights or else Vicks would not have been involved in it, nor would anyone else. This happens in many states in this country, probably in a neighborhood near you. Vicks just happened to have been the “public figure” that was caught.

People are saying things from “he should have known better” to “he should not be allowed to pick up his life where he left it two years ago, he should not be allowed to make money in the way that is familiar to him.”

Get a cause that is relevant to the betterment of mankind; get a cause that helps PEOPLE, pick one, for there are many. I did not hear this public outcry when the 45-year old mother harassed a 12-year old girl on the internet and drove that young girl to suicide.

I did not hear this public outcry when she was offered a position working on computers after being found innocent enough to walk free, yet with the aid of the news media, everyone has a voice about Michael Vicks and it is just shear ridiculous to hear these voices so loud and judgmental. I say, I hope he learned his lesson. When will American people learn their lesson, any lesson about what is truly important.

And that’s the way I see it!!!!

License Plate Frame: Brown Bear

From lies, exaggerations, misinformation, fear and hate to coded messages, mob mentality and chaos. Is the next step murder? If murder is the next irrational step of the crazies, who should be held responsible for inciting the chaos, that created the mood and atmosphere for murder?

Radio talk show hosts, right wingers, news media, insurance companies, Republicans all have taken their turns at stirring the pot of division and dissention. Can they/will they be held accountable for the violence that is threatening to come to a head in the name of “free speech” and “democracy?”

It’s not like this country has not been there before with back to back to back assassinations leaving those who survived to live with the horror, the sadness and many unanswered questions as to how this could happen in this “great nation.”

Is freedom of speech in question here? Is control and manipulation, in the disguise of freedom of speech, the real game of the day? Does freedom of speech justify lies and deceit? How far are you willing to take this to accomplish a goal and maintain control?

I am disgusted by what I am seeing, the lack of respect, the refusal to accept or read what is in the insurance reform bill but instead listen and believe what those who have an interest in the outcome, disseminate to you with “love and concern” leading you to believe they have your best interest at heart when in reality they have only their greed and desire to continue to get rich at your expense.

Conspiracy theories, euthanasia, abortions for all, desperation so thick you can cut it from the air and fondle it with care. What is becoming of America today? I’m not going to lie I remember one town hall meeting where the question was put to Obama regarding the care of the elderly where the options would be medication or a hip replacement and flippantly Obama replied maybe pain medication would be a better option.

I don’t see him being right in having the power to initiate the outcome of these types of decisions that are personal and meaningful to the quality of life I live, at any age. I know that baby boomers are coming of age, at a rate of 60 each day in 2006/330 every hour. Baby boomers will be those people who, by the shear numbers, cause a great deal of stress on the current medical expenses and I have to wonder if in the final analysis, this bill is geared to address this issue in ways that can and will give an out rather than linger with incurable illnesses. If this is the case, is that so wrong?

The consultation clause, for older Americans, as to their living will which includes things such as “do not resuscitate” gives you an opportunity to release those who love you from making decisions that are often hard to make when it comes to letting you linger on machines that are keeping you alive.

Everyone should have a living will because you never know what can befall you at any given moment in time that would put your family in an unbearable mode of making a decision that seems, at the time, impossible to make based on love.

Situations like these have been known to create medical expenses that can and have created financial burdens on those same family members who would have to live with the guilt of “pulling the plug” if the situation arose and there was no stipulation on how you wanted to handle these relevant medical questions. Does this constitute euthanasia?

Fear is guiding the hearts and the minds of individuals; that fear is turning to hate and rage. Hate seems to be a comfortable place for some Americans and rage takes you to a level of uncontrollable, irrational violence all things we have witnessed in these town hall meetings.

Through the angry yells, the aggression and chaos, a shot rings out; angry yells become screams of disbelief, horror, as the speaker falls to the floor and blood seeps from the open wound in her/his head. The crowd panics and begins to run from the room; in the stampede, two or three people fall to the floor, and are trampled to death by the crowd.

Is this the scene you envision in your mind as you exercise your right to freedom of speech to spread these lies and deceit? Is this the end result you crave as you send these Americans out with the words you gave, in an effort to cave health care reform but instead you succeeded in sending someone to an early grave?

Although I spoke of the possibilities in an earlier post, today I viewed a video expressing these same feelings I have been having – code word nazi

Just a final thought – Sarah Palin put so much energy into knocking the news media for involving her children in dialogue yet she has placed her Down syndrome child in the middle of the health care debate. Shrouded in the lies and exaggerations she is, in my mind, famous for. Is this a rational act?

Who is really “right” in this on going debate and is “right” what we should be focused on or should we be focused on what is “good for the nation” “good for we the people” as opposed to the “good for a few” that are making money on the masses.

And that’s the way I see it!!!!

Simple Red Dress