On My Mind...

There's a lot on my mind right now... but I'm in no mood to share it all with the world just yet... some of it is in the works and some of it will have happened by the time this post is published.

One thing on my mind though is this picture that I've seen floating around the internet (no real photo credit although if you click here you'll be taken to the site I copied it from)...


Am I just getting grumpy in my old age? I can't be the only one who thinks this is a blatant disregard of our Country's flag... I was taught these, these, and especially these standards when I was growing up... so I have a hard time seeing pictures like this and not immediately thinking how wrong it is.

There's a rumor going around that Sarah Palin may consider running for office in 2012... is it petty that a picture like this will likely keep her from getting my vote?

I think it's time the Boy Scouts taught our elected officials how to handle and respect the greatest symbol of our Country and we got back to the basics... any one else agree?

Am I the Only One?

Who thinks that seeing our President, our highest elected official, and subsequently his Vice President appear in "skits" on shows such as the Colbert Report not only offensive but ridiculous?

So much for the sanctity of the position...

A Simple Thought...

I was rushing around yesterday morning... looking for shoes... trying to find where my makeup was (I could not remember which bag I took out of town with me!)... and just generally having a typical Monday morning...

I always, always, always turn the news on when I wake up in the morning so with GMA blasting in the background and chaos surrounding me you'd think it was nothing short of a miracle for me to hear anything actually being said on the television... and yet, I did.

I'm not a big fan of people making the next era of our nation all about the civil rights movement. I'm just not. And since this is my blog I get to have my own opinion about it without explaining why... but I will. It's not that I'm racists (I'm a regular ol' Heinz 57 when it comes to my heritage). It's just that I think too many people become tunnel visioned and focused on only that aspect of the campaign when the truth be told, if there had been a candidate worthy of the people's vote and support in the last twenty years who happened to also have been of a different ethnicity than Caucasian then chances are highly likely that that individual would have been voted in as well. But there hasn't been a candidate who meets the needs and qualifications of being the President of the United States of America. Hell, the election we just had didn't even have a candidate who met my needs and requirements for being elected as the next highest elected official of my Country, but that's the beauty of my Country... he clearly met the requirements of others and as such I have to abide by the vote of the majority and support his position. I shouldn't be expected to support him because his skin is a different color... but because he was chosen by the people and in their minds eye he was the best qualified. The color of his skin should not HAVE BEEN or CONTINUE TO BE the key reports and subject of his inauguration and term. What he will be able to do for ALL Americans should be the issue at hand.

Anyway, that's one heck of a tangent to get to the quote I heard earlier yesterday...

Robin Roberts reported that she had heard (but she didn't credit who to) the following:

"Rosa sat so that Martin could walk. Martin walked so that Obama could run. Obama ran so that our children can fly."

Let's hope that this rings true for all ethnicities throughout his term.

Things Rambling Along in My Brain...

Be warned. This post is a vent. There's been a lot in the media lately that I've been trying to mull over in my mind before I could even think about writing a post about it all... for starters... grocery stores charging $0.05 per a plastic bag at the check out... because you know... that's going to help people already struggling to make ends meet... and please don't give me the bullshit line of purchasing a canvas bag or bringing the plastic bag back to the store for reuse - you know as well as I do that at least 45% of those bags rip before you get them to the front door and that nearly the remaining 55% are reused in each household (because honestly, have you seen the cost of "disposable" garbage liners lately?)... and you something... when it comes to spending $6-20 on a canvas bag (times however many it would take to bring the groceries home for an average family - so let's lowball it at say 5 bags - so $30-100 total) or putting food on the table and gas in the tank... what do you think people in a poor economic situation are going to choose?

This morning I'm posting before I can think because I can't get my head around the complete injustices happening awfully close to home...

First there was the story about the 10 year old girl who was raped and has had a child in St. Anthony, Idaho... the story that barely had any headlines on the local news (suffice it to say the man (monster) involved has been arrested)... no idea if the girl is approaching 11 or if the incident happened when she was 9 (that's how little media coverage this is getting... that it was allowed to go unnoticed just pisses me off... because if the media wanted to really draw attention to it and it had indeed happened when she was 9 we'd hear all about that and the community would be in an uproar - so why aren't they at 10? Instead we got a passing headline)... sick. sick. sick. I hope they put him away for life along with any and all adults that allowed the poor child to continue with a pregnancy at that age, because you know - being raped at 9/10 isn't going to screw her up enough - delivering at 10 is just so emotionally appropriate for a CHILD her age...

Soapbox #2... UTAH AND ARIZONA NOT ADDRESSING THE POLYGAMIST ISSUE IN THEIR OWN BACK DOOR AND IN FACT HOLDING A MEETING AND PUBLICLY AGREEING TO IGNORE THE SITUATION.

Of course the only headline hitting the news in this region is that they have nothing to fear because the government (i.e., my and your hard earned cold cash tax dollars at work) are going to turn a blind eye to the ILLEGAL and unethical treatment of the children in those communities. Wow... not only that... BUT THEY'RE ACTUALLY CONSIDERING RELEASING THE CHILDREN FROM TEXAS TO THE RELATIVES WITHIN THE COMPOUNDS AND CITIES IN UTAH instead of putting them into foster care. HELLO??? EARTH TO CHILD SERVICES - do you really think that is the best option for these children? To remove them from one predatory community and subject them to another community wherein the government has already declared that it will not intervene with their, again, ILLEGAL (because marriage to underage children is illegal) actions!!! I realize that it's difficult to argue with religious zealots. I know. And the amount of "brainwashing"/indoctrination (because truly to some extent that's what happens in EVERY religion including the religion from which FDLS found it roots) that these women and children have been through is unfathomable... but still - FOR GOD'S SAKE! As a Christian nation when do we step in and call shenanigans on the entire situation!

I cannot for a minute wrap my hand around the fact that a government/law of the land/closely related in principals religion that I have trusted for 30 years would let sooooo many children down on such a tremendous level.

Retiring soapbox for the time being...

These are only TWO recent incidents... it doesn't even account for the millions of children that fall through the cracks. I wish there were no cracks. Better yet, I wish there were actually consequences. Better yet, I wish as a Nation we'd look inwards and deal with the problems at hand (child abuse, drug abuse, domestic abuse, etc.) before we start offering aid to nations who have a natural disaster.

Please, Tell Me They Aren’t Serious...

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

8:19 PM - Please, Tell Me They Aren’t Serious...
Current mood: irritated
Category: Life

I just watched a television add for Progressive. The insurance company is now extending coverage to your canine if it is in the car with you during an accident (notice they didn't say feline).

I'm torn between (1) this being a cool idea and (2) wondering how this will effect the rates of the other policy holders (I don't have Progressive).

Besides those two issues it also makes me think it's a bit sad that Progressive can extend its coverage to dogs and yet the following chart indicates the number of children in the United States (as of the last census - 2001) who are without health insurance:

..> Characteristic Percent
Age
0–5 10.7%
6–15 11.9
16–18 15.4
Under 18 years 11.7
..> http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0922107.html

That's not even taking into consideration the number of us who are busting our asses to make a living and still don't have benefits.

And yet, just this week Bush vetoed (for the second time) the latest revision of the CHIP program... maybe Bush and Progressive should hold a meeting...

Time for Something of Substance...

Tuesday, December 04, 2007

7:58 PM - Time for Something of Substance...
Current mood: productive
Category: News and Politics


Mitt Romney gave his premeptive to his upcoming I'm a Mormon vote for me speech last night... here's the text...
***************************************************
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said his long-awaited address on religion won't focus on demystifying Mormonism.

"I'm not gonna be giving a JFK speech," Mr. Romney told reporters in Manchester, N.H., yesterday, referring to the 1960 address by then-presidential candidate John F. Kennedy in his bid as a Roman Catholic for the White House. "He gave the definitive speech, if you will, on discrimination relating to political campaigns." Mr. Romney, a Mormon, later said he hadn't read Mr. Kennedy's speech recently.

The former Massachusetts governor said his address slated for Thursday will concentrate on the "common heritage" of the country's founding fathers and "the faith which they had in a creator, not a specific religion." Mr. Romney's remarks continue his effort throughout the campaign to unite voters across faiths and connect with the Republican Party's evangelical Christian wing. Mr. Romney wrote his "Faith in America" address himself in his hotel room in Boca Raton, Fla., the day after last Wednesday's Republican debate.

He denied allegations about the timing and importance of his talk. Recent polls gave former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee a lead in Iowa, a state Mr. Romney had dominated and one where Christian conservatives are an important bloc in the nominating caucuses, to be held Jan. 3. Mr. Romney took a shot at Mr. Huckabee, a onetime Southern Baptist minister who has made his religion the centerpiece of recent appearances. "A candidate or a president that tried to make religion a defining feature of his campaign or his term in office would tend to divide the nation rather than bring it together," Mr. Romney said.

And while many have waited for this speech since Mr. Romney announced his candidacy in January, he insisted that religion won't be a big issue in the race. "I just don't think in the final analysis it will be the deciding factor," he said.

Mr. Romney asked voters to judge him by his family and not his religion, then he paraphrased a line from the New Testament: "By the fruits of their labor, you shall know them."
*****************************************************

Those already aware of my distain for this man will know why I find it very interesting that he 'paraphrased' from the New Testament and not from his own religion's Book of Mormon, 3 Nephi 14:16,20... come on ya'll... most of us were tortured to memorize these scriptures for Scripture Mastery... (no offense to those who still practice and believe)... anyone else thinking that maybe Romney is starting to think that the LDS vote isn't going to be enough to get him through the primaries?????????? Especially since the growth of the LDS church is down in North America (2007 only saw a 0.7% increase in the building of Stake buildings in all of the USA and Canada)... Did poor Brother Romney realize that the majority of active LDS members are not U.S. voters? Maybe I shouldn't worry too much about the uneducated Mormon vote carring ol' Romney after all... especially since the majority of the votes I'm sure he was counting on are probably members of record, but not 'active.'

Hmmmm... makes one think a bit...

Thank God for Modern Health Care

Thursday, August 23, 2007

7:57 PM - Thank God for Modern Health Care
Current mood: contemplative
Category: News and Politics


It's comforting to know, that in a society that can't find a decent candidate to be the next leader of the free world, we can find a cheap way to screen for cervical cancer in 'developing' (read - under developed, 3rd world countries)...

I don't know what's worse... the sharp pinch of a pap smear... or the thought of having a cervix doused in vinegar... granted I'm one of the lucky few who actually have nerve endings in that region... but come on vinegar... how about pooring the money into sexual education and protection instead of studing cheap alternatives to modern medicine... although kudos to researchers for finding a field technique that provides an "instant" reading.

Now the big question, if these countries can't provide pap smears... how in the hell are they going to cover coverage for cervical cancer?????

7:57 PM - Thank God for Modern Health Care
Current mood: contemplative
Category: News and Politics


It's comforting to know, that in a society that can't find a decent candidate to be the next leader of the free world, we can find a cheap way to screen for cervical cancer in 'developing' (read - under developed, 3rd world countries)...

I don't know what's worse... the sharp pinch of a pap smear... or the thought of having a cervix doused in vinegar... granted I'm one of the lucky few who actually have nerve endings in that region... but come on vinegar... how about pooring the money into sexual education and protection instead of studing cheap alternatives to modern medicine... although kudos to researchers for finding a field technique that provides an "instant" reading.

Now the big question, if these countries can't provide pap smears... how in the hell are they going to cover coverage for cervical cancer?????

(Search MSN for link to article which inspired this post)

Why Mitt Won’t Get My Vote

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

9:59 PM - Why Mitt Won’t Get My Vote
Current mood: angry
Category: Life

Because he's a flipflopper who changes his views to get the sympathetic, uneducated, party votes of those lazy voters who will only be voting for him because he is LDS. I hope that those voters realize that this is not a popularity vote, but a position with serious consequences and powers.

It should be noted that I am not interested in starting a pro-life argument on my blog and as such I've disabled comments.


..> Mitt Romney
Republican WHEN HE WAS GOVERNOR OF MASSACHUSETTS, MR. ROMNEY SUPPORTED ABORTION RIGHTS...
I believe that abortion should be safe and legal in this country.
-- Debate with Ted Kennedy, October 1994

...BUT HE SAYS NOW THAT HE CHANGED HIS MIND
I've always been personally pro-life, but for me there was a great question about whether or not government should intrude in that decision. And when I ran for office, I said I'd protect the law as it was, which is effectively a pro-choice position. About two years ago when we were studying cloning in our state, I said, look, we have gone too far; it's a brave new world mentality that Roe v. Wade has given us; and I change my mind...I won't apologize to anybody for becoming pro-life.
-- Republican Candidates Debate, May 3, 2007