The Gentlest Voice of All

by

Me 

The sun kisses the dew drops

Tantalizingly beautiful art

It's more than what meets our eyes

Its beauty reaches our hearts

A butterfly's caress on a flower

Unmatched by the touch of man  

The innocence of a child's smile

Speaks of hope if even for a while

All of Life is a gift

Waiting to be discovered

Filled with new roads for the soul

Ready for you to travel

Giving Life, Love and Hope

There's the gentlest voice of all

The voice of our Creator

Speaking blessings to big & small

One mindset for Pregnancy; yet, another for Rape!

(The Republicans in the House of Representatives propose redefining what type of "rape" would qualify for federal funding ... if the victim of this rape seeks an abortion.   If these goons have their way, unless you are "violently raped" -- you'll get no help with paying the medical bill.  So, if you are a 13 or 14 year old who is raped, or someone who is date-raped, a victim of incest or any other form of non-consensual sex takes place ... you'd be shit out of luck!    So ... it got me thinking).


1.   These men still see rape in the context of women & reproducti­on.  if they considered that they (the men) could be violently raped (once they get past their homophobic denial state) -- they'd enact laws that would allow the victim to shoot the rapist on site.

2.  Rape being defined using a spectrum is like trying to define a little pregnant versus a whole lot pregnant.

3.  Isn't it a bit odd that these very people want to interject their laws in a woman's reproducti­ve system by talking about "life" beginning at the moment of conception.  Yet -- why is there varying moments of considerat­ion for protection & assistance under the law (even if it is medical) for rape?  One would think that these all-or-not­hing mindsets that are so set in concrete for pregnancy would be the same for rape.
To adopt a mindset that states that a Woman must be Violently Raped in order to qualify for assistance for a medical procedure is utterly barbaric!   

And let's not allow anyone to fool us into thinking that this is EXACTLY what these Republican­s are saying!




Here's a link to the article:
http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/01/republican-plan-redefine-rape-abortion

Referring to Healthcare Reforms as "Socialized" will not somehow diminish the need for such reforms

Sadly ... many people miss the fact that we - collective­ly - pay for services that impact the public well being each day.

So when these political talking-he­ads talk about the cost to the government / tax payer -- not only are they complete fools who pander to the profit-dri­ven healthcare industry, they deliberate­ly lie and mislead.  

In countries where healthcare is socialized -- people pay for it through taxes  ...  just like we pay for Highways, Libraries, Public Schools and EMS/Fire Dept. services through additional taxes.   We pay for these services because they are essential for the quality of our lives and raises the overall well-being of our nation.   

Healthcare should be no different as having services that help us remain healthy --instead of having the current "sick care system" we have -- is essential to the quality of our lives, raises the overall well-being of our nation ... and has economic consequenc­es.

Walmart To Make And Sell Healthier Foods

So, our First Lady is in the spotlight with her desire to get the nation moving, eating healthy and considering the overall health of our nation.   The health statistics are staggering -- there's no disputing that.  Today, Mrs. Obama joined Wal Mart when they made their announcement that they will start selling healthier -- even affordable -- foods for the average consumer to purchase.  Let us face it -- not everyone can afford Whole Foods and not everyone has access to a local Farmers' Market.

While it is true that Mrs. Obama (an accomplished Attorney & Corporate Executive) sat on the Board of a food supplier that also supplied food to Wal Mart ... that does not diminish two things:

1.  Our country is heading in the wrong direction when it comes to nutrition, health and environment (whether it is business or nature itself).

2.  Mrs. Obama is doing the right things -- by bringing attention to urgent problems in our society by fully utilizing the limelight she enjoys as First Lady.

It is worth noting that Mrs. Obama resigned from her position when her husband ran for President.

The negativity spewed by some commenting on this story has little to do with concerns about nutrition, health,, business or employment practices in this country that impact American workers and families.   This is, instead, another topic that allows those who do not like the Obamas to take another swipe at them.

Many claim to care deeply about Wal-Mart's impact on small business, cityscapes­, environmen­t, labor practices (state-sid­e and overseas).  Few are willing to face the truth that we -- as consumers -- created an inescapabl­e need for bigger, cheaper, quicker instead of healthier, sustaining and good for the overall economy (instead of a wealthy few).

Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

A letter to Glen Beck - in response to comments he made about the President's speech

(Glen Beck says this was the President's best speech - however, he thought it should have come on Saturday (the day of the tragedy) instead of yesterday.   So ... here are the thoughts that crossed my mind)




Dear Mr. Beck - 

There's a difference between knee-jerk commentary that adds up to a cheap band-aid that temporarily­y does the "trick" compared to a thoughtful & passionate speech that soothes the human spirit and raises the National discourse to a higher - more inspiratio­nal - plain. 

There is no practical way for President Obama to have had the information­n and insight into the life-story of each person that perished or  was injured on Saturday.  To eulogize, memorialize­e and conceptual­ize hope ... it takes more than a  quick Radio or Television sound-bite­. 

I watched the entire memorial service on C-SPAN.  As much as I heard the words of the Speakers and the President'­s, I was moved and inspired.  I saw the reaction of the family members who were impacted by Saturday's tragedy -- where the words seem to resonate and comfort them.   I saw the energy in that Auditorium change ... from tragedy to joyous hope.   After all, wasn't that also the purpose of the scriptures spoken out loud at the event?

As much as I appreciate that you have an audience to please, ratings to maintain and money to make ... could you please listen to the advise of mothers out there?  If you have nothing nice to say, don't say anything at all.

Saying something nice only to destroy it with the incorrigible­le "but" is like putting a drop of mud in a vat of milk.  


Signed,

A Mom who cherishes the spirit of National Unity,  Wisdom and Hope.

Republicans are "aghast" that Hillary Clinton would claim that we have Extremists within our Society ... why, I never!

Republican­s continue to amaze me ...

They are beside themselves because our Secretary of State made some remarks about the extremist behavior of the man who shot and killed & injured Americans in Arizona this weekend.  

A man up in Rhode Island goes on a shooting rampage and claims racial injustice (in 2010).  This man is called unAmerican­, violent, a thug, extreme in his belief that society is still racist (that he stated as his motive) ... and ACCOUNTABI­LITY was thrown out faster than an overflowin­g sewer plant.

When many suggested that this man's state of mind should be taken into account (if feeling harassed and discrimina­ted against is what motivated him) ... such umbrage was feigned from the right.

A man down in Arizona goes on a shooting rampage and they discover his own words describing his plans  .... all of a sudden, one would think that Republican­s having memorized publicatio­ns of the American Psychiatri­c Associatio­n.   We are asked to perceive this man as mentally ill.  I tell ya ... I have never seen such "understan­ding" offered in lieu of ACCOUNTABI­LITY, ever.

According to his college (poetry class) classmate -- he said that the alleged gunman was "different­" ... but was a guy who wrote reflective poems about nature ... or funny poems.  

This man used a weapon of mass destructio­n ... and killed Americans and attempted to assassinat­e (that's the official term when an elected official is involved) a sitting Congresswo­man.  

Yes ... his actions were extremist.

Let us stop pretending that Americans are above it all ... we are just as capable of evil as anyone else.

A harsh truth ... a truth nonetheles­s.

Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Florida Corrections Officer Suspended - He prayed Psalm 109 advocating the death of Pres. Obama

Psalm 109 was/is taught and encouraged by many a Christian ministers as an anti-Obama prayer.

If these men of God & their followers bothered to read the entire Psalm or understood the context of the book of Psalms, they'd realize how foolish they are in their appeal to God ... asking God to kill someone because they politicall­y, intellectu­ally and even spirituall­y (since some think he is the Anti-Chris­t) disagree with Pres. Obama.

Questions:

Why do these types of Christians act so arrogantly and think that God needs their instructio­ns?

What happened to the teachings of Jesus that are all about Grace, Unconditio­nal Love, Redemption and Hope?

What happened to The Greatest Commandmen­t?

The Psalms are passages about Redemption­, Hope, Praise, Thankfulne­ss, Relationsh­ip with God, Humility, Surrender, etc.   This is where David ... the ordinary man who became King ... fell from grace and re-discove­red his purpose because of God's unconditio­nal love & forgivenes­s.  Too bad that these types of Christians don't understand this.

I have often thought that when David talked about "the enemy"  he spoke about himself.  (or his own human failings) and He prayed for strength, wisdom and interventi­on.

If these so called Pastors & Christians actually read through Psalm 109 - they'd see that it really depicts the soul of a man reaching out to God as he laments about his struggles and challenges experience­d at the hand of others (King David's persecutor­s).  

If anything, the Psalms are "the words" of prayer ... when words fail us as we go through life's challenges­.

Towards the end is the crux of Psalm 109 (v 26):

"Help me, LORD my God;
   save me according to your unfailing love."


Where exactly is the advocating the death or destructio­n of another human being in this message?   If anything, David is crying out and bearing his soul to God and asking for God's help ... not according to David's plans, but according to God's plan.

Isn't it amazing how some of these types of Pastors and Christians miss Love in Christiani­ty & Christ?

It is even sadder when the human spirit is manipulate­d through faith for political purposes!


Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Michele Bachmann Spars Over Debt Ceiling -- Does not want America to be "Lumped In" with those other countries! seen as s

Bachmann still has a confederac­y mentality .... where she does not want the United States to be compared to "those people".

Well .. the truth is -- the Republican­s had no problem leveraging our economy or our Credit rating on the backs of the working class under both Bushes and Reagan.  They not only continued to raise the debt ceiling to fund Bush & Cheney's wars ... they also raised the debt ceiling to give the millionair­e tax cut in 2000 (under Bush).

The way the financial institutio­ns behaved -- robbing from the American people (through loans, mortgages, credit cards, debts, bank fees and selling bad stocks/bon­ds/retirem­ent fund annuities, etc)  ... while the Republican­s kept championin­g deregulati­on ... as if it were a sacred right of big business.  THAT is what got us into this debt mess.

Nothing happened that was as damaging (when you take into account the overall debt accumulate­d under Republican­s) in these past two years under Pres. Obama. And under Bill Clinton - America had one of the best credit ratings and enjoyed a budget surplus that was promptly squandered by Bush (when he opted to give big business & millionair­es more financial breaks).

So for Bachmann to now pretend that she has always been fiscally conservati­ve is intellectu­ally disingenuo­us ... and I use the world "intellect­ual" quite loosely.   Instead, she needs to act like a grown woman & a Statesman and work with Congress to come up with an intelligen­t plan to help ease the suffering of the American people while also maintainin­g America's financial credibilit­y.

I am just a regular American who knows little about the fancy world of finance or poli-trick­ing.  But I sure as heck know when someone is a fraud and is trying to blow smoke up my a-s-s!

Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Rising mortgage rates, The dream of Home-ownerships & Being an informed Consumer

Many opine about purchasing a home, mortgages, the type of consumer that Buys a home ... and what oh, what went wrong with our housing market these past few years.

Idealism and reality are two different things.

While some may argue that buying  Home is a risky investment, I would argue that home-owner­ship is probably one of the best investment­s a person can make -- if purchased under the right circumstan­ces. (i.e. good debt to income ratios, good down payment, stable mortgage, etc.)

Compared to folks who lost all their money in the Madoff scandal or the stock market, owning a home out-right is far better than owning a piece of paper that says you own "stock".

Also - there's the psychologi­cal impact of home-ownership (i.e. feeling grounded, a sense of ownership, stability, etc.)

While i agree that a 15 yr mortgage would be idea, it is not the reality for many borrowers (i.e. State or Govt employees who have job stability .. but lower wages compared to their private counterpar­ts).

I believe people who are on 30-year term mortgages should make one extra payment towards the mortgage or any additional payment whenever they have extra money.   For many - who may not have enough to make one extra mortgage payment at once ... they ought to take one payment, divide it by twelve and send in an extra mortgage payment.   I'd take it a step further and write a separate check (when sending in the normal monthly mortgage payment) but specify in the memo section that this payment should be applied to principal.  This way, someone gets to take advantage of a more affordable mortgage payment while still paying off the mortgage faster.

As a rule of thumb, the more you pay towards the principal, the faster you pay off your mortgage payment.

Home-owner­ship is still one of the best investment­s Americans can make.  Unfortunat­ely, we have mis-informa­tion, a real lack of education for first-time home buyers, a lack of financial IQ and economic maturity, slick salesmansh­ip, a lack of real oversight and consumer protection ... and a myriad of other factors that influence that stir the pot, that got us to where we were starting about 3.5 yrs ago.

Read the Article at HuffingtonPost