WTH

OK, I admit it. I have been offline for too many years. Ya know, busy and all that crap (AKA excuses). My friend and I have made up, kind of, and I'm ready to make people mad at me again.

I am back because of the new President -Trump. I spoke up, wrote about, and was shot down many times during the Bush W. years, this is different. Bush was a politician (yucky as it can be) but this recent experiment is deranged for a presidential politician. Damn, can you believe that I am back on the same side as McCain?

I have had to hit the streets much more than my old bones appreciate because of this crazy new president.

The Muslim Ban is clearly illegal, and I know that all of his spokespeople try to clean it up, but it is a ban. DNI and Joint Chiefs have to beg for a spot on the National Security Council. Freakin Shameful.

I have a sneaky feeling that I will have to be on this blog much more during the next four years or until Trump is impeached.

Politics and Friendship

I lost a good friend recently. One that I talked to on almost a daily basis. It all started with a fight over Occupy Wall Street protesters. I had told him never talk politics with me because we don't agree but he couldn't let it go. I have been grieving this loss for a few months now, but I still stand by my original belief. Our American system is broken. It has been corrupted by big business and the politics that have been bought by big business/big money. In my heart, I know that we have to do something about this or face losing our soul as a nation to the corruption that lies at the bottom of this mess.

I have a child and I don't want her to inherit this nest of thieves. I believe that term limits are essential and so is limiting the amount of money that can be given to a politician or a PAC. Lobbyists have got to go. Without some of these fundamental changes to our system, the income disparity will continue to go unchecked.

Losing a friend was hard and I wish that it didn't happen, but I believe that things will work out. I really am an optimist.

Occupy Wall Street

I am a supporter of the Occupy Wall Street Movement. I find that it is an honest grassroots movement to help end the corruption of our financial system and the role that money plays in our electoral system. Until we are able to have honest elections that are not bought by big money, corporations and special interest, I don't believe that the system will get better.

I have been a part of the protests and one of the best parts of being there in the "thick of things" was seeing the people. I walked along side an old man using his cane, a blind woman, babies in strollers, college students, middle aged people, veterans of the current conflict and veterans of past conflicts, even members of the Tea Party. It truly was a representative group of our nation. I am smiling as I think about this eclectic group of people. It makes me think of the children's song:
"Red and yellow, black and white, all are precious in His sight. Jesus loves the little children of the world."

The message is not clear cut and all the people who work in the financial section are not crooks. However, until the crooks that are there are punished, it will continue to be percieved as such. Regarding the message, I think that one thing that is clear is that our system is not fair. It favors the super rich. Since this was such a controversial subject, I have done my research and have thought long and hard about such a movement. Is it perfect, No. We saw where groups with their own agenda can hi-jack the peaceful  protests marches, such as what happened in Rome. It does not take away from the movement itself however.

I am amused by some of the media coverage and some of the back-pedaling by politicans regarding this movement. The media wants short and sweet sound bytes. Not easy for them to cover the message in a bumper sticker mentality. The politiians who were so hard nosed in the beginning (read this Eric Cantor) are now seeing the direction that the wind is blowing and have toned down their hate-filled rhetoric.

The biggest and best of the objectives was to wake this country up and get them involved in the process. It is hard to get this slumbering giant awake but we saw that it can happen (think the civil rights movement of the 1960s). Some of the same things that people were saying then about that movement are the same things that were said to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Read his response to some of those white religious leaders in his Letters from a Birmingham Jail.

The founders of our nation foresaw things like this happening in the future of the country. Therefore, they built rights into the constitution to make sure that the people had a way to make their voices be heard by those in power. I hope that one of the things that this movement does is help people register to vote and be a part of the process.

On another note: I saw four clergy people at the walk in my city. A Presbytarian, a Roman Catholic and two United Methodists. I hope that those who are members of the clergy support this movement and don't wait on the side lines. It is scary to step out in faith and risk alienating members of your congregations, but sometimes we have to make a stand.

In Defense of Christianity

I will be the first to admit that religion has not ever done a great job at promoting world peace but there are a couple of things that I would like for you to think about. 1) Hospitals were started because of religion. Now I realize that now with all the money to be made, hospitals are pretty much a secular industry but the word hospital is a derivative of the word hospitality. In the third century, one of the Roman governor's said that "these Christians just go around loving everyone". Now we have really fallen a long way from that time and entered into a hate filled and vicious circle, I realize that and so do a lot of other Christians who are hard at work trying to rehabilitate our image.

Part of the problem is that the normal Christians...and yes there are some out there....get overshadowed by all the nuts that the media loves to make such a fuss about. For instance, the nut jobs from Westboro, which I would argue are not Christian and have just hijacked the term. Or that idiot from Florida, who thought that burning the Koran was a good idea. Normal Christians go around trying their best to help people or if not that, at least do their best not to cause any harm.

Do we succeed? You might say no, but I think that for the majority of us we are doing just as good as anyone else is and maybe just a little better. I am not trying to convert you but to not group all of us together when you hear (another idiot) Pat Robertson saying America is going to fall because of gay marriage. I am a Christian who believes that two people of any gender have the right to live their lives out together with all the privileges and pitfalls that come from being married. I personally choose to be single, but it is my choice.

Now I am not holier than thou either, I like to have a beer and I cuss like a sailor (especially if I stub my toe). I, also, help hand out food to the hungry and visit those who are sick and dying in the hospital because of my religion. I am not uneducated or naive. I am not a Republican or a hater. And I'm not trying to convert you. This is my path and I came to it later in life than many but it is working for me. I just ask that you don't make blanket generalizations about Christianity. We are not all bad.....or all good.

Transitions

I am in the midst of a pretty big transition in my life right now. I'm starting a new position in my organization, which requires a move to a different location and job site. And in the midst of all of this, I finally finished my dissertation and sent it off to the book binders. God, I hope they don't any problems because I truly am sick of it. Four years of writing a dissertation makes for a lot of nightmares because it is always at the back of your mind.

Anyway, I tell you guys this because I have not really been doing a good job of keeping up this blog. Just wanted you to know that after the move it might get better.....hopefully, it will get better.

No Take Back

Well, we had a big week. After extensive probing and prodding, managed to slip into the inner sanctum and join the big boys...(insert evil laugh here). I truly hope to shake some things up with the help of my brother and sister witchs and warlocks. Now we just need to plan for some of the old people to die off or retire so we can start turning this big ship around, make some changes, and truly learn to follow the path. Or maybe we will just fish and drink, I haven't decided yet.

Unfortunately, the above mentioned change comes with a change of address. Therefore, I have spent all day today digging up all of my hemlock and other important "medicinal" herbs to transplant to the new place. I already have my new vegetable garden planted, although it was probably too late in the season for some of the plants to do very well.

Damn Shame

I spent the evening at a local hospice with the family of a young woman who died from liver failure. It hit me pretty hard because she basically drank herself to death. She even lost her chance at a liver transplant because she wouldn't get sober. That is bad, sad and a damn shame but the part that really upset me was her children. I asked if they had any stories about their mom that they wanted to share with people. The answer was so sad, "No we don't remember any good times. She got sick when we were too young to remember."

It really hurt to think that these kids didn't have any good memories of their mother. I pray that they will remember something as the days go by but it tugged at my heart. I came home and cried. I seldom do that when it comes to funerals....jaded--maybe but I believe it is more a profound faith in the promise of Jesus. Death isn't the boogie-man to me.