I am trying to save the world, one vote at a time.
Just call me SUPERMOM! :-)
I'll post stuff another day.
By the way,
John Kerry won the debate.
And I will do everything I can to help him
win the election!
In these perilous times we need a real leader
who can stay on point and think on his feet.
John Kerry is that man!
There is still time to save our democracy.
Don't sit by and let the destruction continue.
You can make a difference in the world.
One by one, we can do more than can be imagined.
Yesterday, while helping walk a nearby precinct, I met some nice people. One couple, who share many of the same concerns as me, made a comment which made me uncomfortable.
The course of the War and the problem of affordable Health Care were two of their biggest concerns. However, they added one more. This concern was about immigration.
On this issue, I held silent. It wasn't that I did not hold an opinion. It was that we were not on the streets yesterday to try to change anyone's mind. We were simply trying to identify likely voters and those who wished to help elect a new president.
I hold very strong views about those who come to this country to provide for their families. I don't see them as a liability, but as an asset.
I have met many people who have entered this country illegally. These are hard working people who will take the work that most Americans are unwilling to do. Many work most of their waking hours at the lowest paying jobs in order to provide their families with the simple things that most of us take for granted.
The thing that seems to scare people is that we think the newest immigrants are different from us. They look different. Their families are larger. They speak another language.
Our social services are strained as the newest arrivals get sick, as their children enter schools and if while traveling to the jobs we won't take, they have an auto accident.
Since the majority of the voters in California believe that these people should not be able to obtain driver's licenses in our state, many are driving without either insurance or going through the normal testing procedures required of all licensed drivers.
To me this just seems stupid. Not allowing aliens to have driver's licenses will not stop them from driving. Nor will baring their children from utilizing the social services of the state contribute to our well being.
A few months ago, Pete and I attended a party in Orange County. At that party, we met several neighbors and friends of the hostess. They were nice people. Nearly every guest was white.
A large percentage of the guests had immigrated to the United States from the British Isles. Several said that they entered the US illegally, but after obtaining the services of an immigration attorney (who we also met), were able to secure legal status.
No one, who seems to be so afraid of "those illegal aliens", seems to concern themselves when the immigrant is White.
What does that tell me? This tells me that there is an underlying fear of what looks different. This is the same fear that has existed with every wave of immigration. This fear existed from the earliest days, as the masses left their homes in Europe and Asia to find a better life in America.
As human beings, it may be natural for us to differentiate between "them" and "us". It may even be hard wired into our brains as a primitive survival mechanism.
The thing is, that if we as individuals, are to grow, we must continue to face our basest fears. We must always strive to be better than we are. We must come to realize that until the imbalance in the world is brought to equilibrium, we will always see the "have nots" coming to the lands of those who "have" to make a better life.
This is a big issue. One which we must face. This is happening all over the world in developed countries. Many of the citizens of the wealthier nations are concerned that the character of their nations and neighborhoods are changing as new immigrants, with differing backgrounds and ethnicities arrive.
Many think they can stop the change.
Many long for the 'good old days."
But, change can not be stopped.
Change is inevitable.
Without erecting a Totalitarian State, we cannot simply pull up the drawbridge. It would be impossible. We must find another way.
We can and we must grow in appreciation for all the people of the world. We do an ill justice to ourselves and to others when we fail to realize that we are all in this together. What affects the least of us affects us all. There is no separation. In reality, we are one.
If you haven't left me by now, you might want to read the following article that appeared in the LA times Opinion section this morning. Here it is:
CALIFORNIA
"Pouty White People"
"Why so downbeat on the future? Well, start with racial changes."
-By Gregory Rodriguez
(Gregory Rodriguez, a contributing editor of Opinion, is an Irvine senior fellow at the New America Foundation.)
September 26, 2004
"Once known as the land of futurists and dreamers, California is increasingly home to pessimists. Often nostalgic, newspaper commentators, novelists, journalists and social critics issue jeremiads about paradise lost and the coming dystopia. California has always had its share of apocalyptic prophets, but these voices are no longer cries in the wilderness; they reflect a growing public mood in the once Golden State.
There is a racial dimension to all the gloominess. The downbeat outlook is in large part driven by Anglos, the state's largest minority. Although they enjoy the highest per capita income and are significantly more likely to own a home than any other group, Anglos appear to be suffering from a bad case of "declinism."
One reason for California's post-World War II success was the willingness of government and civic institutions to invest in the aspirations and hard work of newcomers to the state. California built an extraordinary infrastructure ... aqueducts, roads, universities and schools to enable largely Anglo migrants to realize their dreams. Taxpayers gladly footed the cost because their future depended on the improvements. Because the electorate had an optimistic vision, they were willing to bear the sacrifices. California's leading social, political and cultural institutions echoed this sentiment and articulated the goals of the ascendant Anglo population. The editorial visions of the state's leading newspapers resonated with the energy and outlook of a hopeful, striving population.
Whites still make up a disproportionate share of the electorate. They dominate the state's business, intellectual and cultural elites. They remain the principal authors of the California story. And they have become the most pessimistic of any group in the state, according to an August survey of the Public Policy Institute of California. Fully 57% felt that the state would be a worse place to live in two decades. At 49%, blacks were the second most pessimistic group. Latinos (39%) and Asians (34%) were significantly less downbeat.
Anglo pessimism in California is not a new phenomenon. In a similar poll taken five years ago, Anglos were considerably more pessimistic about living in the state in 2020 than were Latinos, the group with the lowest per capita income and second-lowest homeownership rate.
This apparent disconnect between wealth and outlook suggests that Anglo declinism does not stem from material circumstances. Indeed, pessimism tends to increase with education and income. Are Anglos simply better informed about the state's problems than everyone else, and thus gloomier?
If educational achievement is an indicator, the answer is no. Asians in California have higher rates of academic attainment than whites, and they are far more optimistic.
What these polls do measure is expectations. A majority of Anglos clearly believe that their best days in the state are behind them.
One explanation for what is happening is what journalist David Whitman calls the "I'm OK, you're not" phenomenon. Anglos have less faith in the future of today's immigrants than the immigrants have for themselves. Over a generation, immigrants from Asia and particularly Latin America have changed not only the cultural landscape but also the state's image of itself.
The newcomers have punctured the idea of California as a middle-class utopia. They are associated with high rates of poverty, density, diversity and social ills reminiscent of New York City and Chicago at the turn of the 20th century. Whites don't easily identify with the aspirations of these emergent groups.
With the exception of the much-maligned "Oakies" and "Arkies" in the 1930s, native-born white migrants were generally welcomed to California by the state's establishment. The new arrivals' enthusiasm was not greeted with dread.
Anglo declinism may stem from the aging of the Anglo population. Of all the state's major demographic groups, Anglos are the most likely to have lived in California the longest. As a result, they are both more able ... and more likely ... to remember the ways things used to be, to compare the present with the past. Furthermore, the median age of whites (40.3) is significantly higher than all other groups. As such, Anglos are not only racially but increasingly generationally disconnected from the younger nonwhite population. Brookings Institution demographer Bill Frey calls this a "racial generation gap."
"The newcomers have the enthusiasm whites have lost," Frey said. "Whites are the landed aristocracy that don't see themselves as part of the new dynamism of the state."
Life in California is more complicated than it was a generation ago. It takes much longer to drive from Los Angeles to San Diego. Competition to land a spot on a University of California campus is far keener. High housing prices can bring even the financially mighty to their knees. But greater population density and stiffer competition don't necessarily translate into catastrophe.
"Anglos are pouting," California historian Kevin Starr said. "They still think California is the unearned increment, that just by coming here you'd be prosperous."
The gritty reality of a generation of enormous international migration has collided with Anglo illusions of the good life. It isn't that Asians and Latinos, two groups with large foreign-born cohorts, don't still see California as a land of opportunity. Rather, it's that the Anglo myth that dreams should be achieved without struggle is gone. Today's newcomers don't come to the land of perpetual sunshine to reinvent themselves in a Mediterranean climate. Their story is a more hardscrabble version of the American dream, one we associate with the East Coast.
In his 1998 critique of the New Left, Stanford philosopher Richard Rorty asserted, "National pride is to countries what self-respect is to individuals: a necessary condition for self-improvement." A similar judgment could be said about a state's orientation toward the future. Like individuals, bodies politic must have a modicum of faith in the future if they intend to plan constructively for one.
California's crumbling infrastructure can be rebuilt, and its broken education system can be repaired. But that's not going to happen until we re-create the social contract that built postwar California. That contract must be founded on a shared vision of the future. If Anglo California is not willing to provide one, then at the very least it should make way for those who do."
If you want other stories on this topic, search the Archives at latimes.com/archives.
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Did you ever wonder???
Mike made his Mom laugh, informed us, and helps us keep things clean with this...
Soul Searching is hard work...
Dieter posted this entry the other day.
...............
LOTS OF PEOPLE SEEM TO BE HAVING BAD DAYS...
OF COURSE, MAYBE THEY AREN'T BAD AT ALL!
Another Michael posted Is this Bad?
Heidi tells about one of those days here:
I think even bad days are good days.
It's all how we hold it!
And sometimes, it just feels good to vent.
That can be good too.
No one is perfect.
It's good to know we aren't alone.
I think John Kerry is an honorable and capable man
who has had to dance through fire to become the candidate.
I like him.
And, I like what Michael Moore had to say in his letter;
"Put Away Your Hankies".
Well almost all of it....
I like John Kerry.
He will make a terrific president.
It's time for a man with real values to be in the White House!
"The only thing to fear is fear itself."
-Franklin D. Roosevelt
These words are as true today as they were then.
We cripple ourselves when we give into fear.
We forget who we are.
Listen to Mom!
Fear and Hatred are the tools of tyrants.
We can do awful things when we act out of these emotions.
Let's choose to do things differently.
Committing evil in the name of Good is still committing evil.
Don't!
The other day someone sent us a Xeroxed flyer from the John Birch Society. The postmark said it was mailed from Hollywood Los Angeles area. I'm not sure what message this flyer is trying to convey. It seems to be anti Bush, anti war, and anti UN. Especially anti UN!
Interesting that someone thought I might be interested.
But also telling ... that whoever sent this missive to us
did not have the courage to either sign it
or put a return address on the envelope.
Yeah, I know Xeroxed is not a word. Or is it?
Last night this Mom got angry. Angry at all the pundits, commentators and politicos who profess to admire Kerry ... and who want to get rid of Bush ... but never-the-less, spend much of their time on air complaining and whining about how John Kerry isn't making his case strongly enough. They are ragging on the candidate because he hasn't turned into an attack dog like Dick Cheney.
This infuriates me. It seems to me that these people are more concerned with the ability to say "See, I told you!" if George Bush is reelected, instead of using their voices to stand behind the man they think will make a better president.
John Kerry is a strong leader and a good and honorable man!
I am glad that he is unwilling to remake himself to please these whining commentators. Good for him. We don't need another deceptive demogogue in the White House!
A lot of people are mad at Bush. Many have turned their anger into action in an effort to unseat this terrible president. But, some spend their time and energy whining and complaining that John Kerry isn't running his campaign like a street fighter.
We get nearly all our news from a right wing controlled media. Most of this media is concerned only with creating more scandal to lure more viewers to make more profit for their shareholders.
Very few of us are hearing or reading Kerry's speeches. The huge crowds meeting Kerry and the protests against George Bush are barely being shown. You really have to search for fair and balanced coverage these days.
Sex and scandal sells. But, apparently real news does not. How come we hear nothing about the thousands of Americans wounded in this war? Where is the news of all the shattered lives due to decisions made by Mr. Bush?
Are you concerned about the dismantling of our constitution that the people in office swore to defend?
Apparently the fact that this privileged president (who, by the way, deceives the citizenry daily by portraying himself as just a country boy who brought himself up by his bootstraps ... instead of the child of oil rich parents (and a former president) doesn't concern our media.
Don't believe the polls.
Statistics can be manipulated.
Don't become discouraged.
Remember the old saying,
"When the going gets tough, the tough get going."
If you want to make Mr. Bush a one term president, then I suggest you do something other than portray our candidate as weak. Does it gain you or the country anything by doing that? Stop ragging on the Kerry campaign, and get busy. Or shut up!
If you don't like it ... that's too bad!
This is MY BLOG!
You don't have to read it!
TO START OUT... YEAH TODAY!!!
It's been a wonderful day!
A day doing something I loved.
If you can believe it...
I was cleaning house.
Not mine.
Vacuming and dusting ...
washing windows ...
cleaning bathrooms.
It was fun.
There were lots of us getting ready
for a celebration and a good-bye.
to a very good man.
Saturday is set aside to honor his life.
We already do.
.....
Tonight Pete and I attended a candlelight vigil
to honor the more than 1000 Americans troops....
This was just one of the many similar vigils in the South Bay, and around the country organized by the people at MoveOn.
It was a big group.
I brought extra candles.
People saw us, parked their cars, and joined us.
I ran out of candles.
Drivers honked their horns and waved in solidarity.
...Met lots of nice people.
People who just wanted to do something .
I invited several to a John Kerry for President
volunteer orientation meeting.
Many said yes and gave me their cards.
We exchanged names and phone numbers.
This is encouraging.
Before heading home,
we stopped at the Old Town Torrance Foster's Freeze.
I got a LARGE Vanilla cone dipped in CHOCOLATE!
Mike sent me a picture.
What more can I ask?
Well, if YOU are taking requests...
I'll ask for world peace.
*************
Oh, and to the guys from Mike's work
who called today to ask
what I thought about the upcoming expiration
of the assault weapons ban....
This is what I think.
It's a damn shame!
Act Now!
Don't let the ban expire!
Yes, I know I just said damn!
Even moms sometimes swear.
*******
Happy Birthday to you.
Happy Birthday to you.
Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday.
Happy Birthday to you!
"Life has no other discipline to impose, if we would but realize it, than to accept life unquestioningly. Everything we shut our eyes to, everything we run away from, everything we deny, denigrate or despise, serves to defeat us in the end. What seems nasty, painful, evil, can become a source of beauty, joy and strength, if faced with an open mind. Every moment is a golden one for him who has the vision to recognize it as such."
-Henry Miller (1891-1980)
Life really can be beautiful.
Thanks for clearing my vision, Dear One.
Don't you know that there is no death? Life Is!
Go peaceably into the night. Light awaits you.
**********************************************
Thanks for your graceful example.
Good-bye old friend.
"Life is not precious, a thing to be cherished. The soul and the mind are the instruments God gives us for our use and half of us don't begin to use them. We put Life and Health on two little pedestals and spend most of our time performing acts of devotion before them. Instead of using them as a carpenter his tools, as a helmsman the rudder, to hammer or steer our way to victory, we turn ourselves into Vestal Virgins with nothing on the face of the earth to do but to feed the feeble flames of our comfort. Life is no craven thing, lurking coward-like in a corner. It is big, broad, splendid in opportunity. It is to be used, not cherished. It is to be spent, not saved."
-Alice Foote MacDougall (1867-1945)
It is now 92 degrees in Pete's office.
Tell me again why we don't need air conditioning?
"We are planets to each other,
Drifting in our orbits
To a brief eclipse.
Each of us a world apart,
Alone and yet together,
Like two passing ships."
- Neil Peart
But, we're all in the same ocean of space....
......................................
I'M SO PROUD!
Check this out!