Single in Saint Louis: News and politics

The Mosquito

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 13:04:53 GMT

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24280571/wid/11915829?GT1=40006

This is awesomely hilarious, and also sounds like a a scam. I mean, a machine that targets teenagers and people in their early twenties and effects nobody else? Please, I'm not an idiot.

I am still an advocate for walking outside and telling loitering people to go home or you will call the cops. What happened to that? We used to hear that all the time when we were kids. We even had a neighbor that put up a sign that said, "no kids on the lawn." This seems like some scapegoat way out of confronting people about the stuff they are doing that is annoying. I really think there might be an issue with confrontation and communication in the world today. We are all so afraid of each other or so worried about hurting someone's feelings that we can't tell them, "Go away." It's ridiculous.

My one big beef with Hilary Clinton

Wed, 02 Apr 2008 13:10:11 GMT

Ok, McCain has one coming too, I'm just not done writing it yet.

I am a fan of women holding public office, women in leadership positions in companies, and women doing all of those things that other women fought for us to have the opportunity to do. For that very same reason I have an issue with Hilary Clinton being President that no one has really mentioned, and I think it is holding up Hilary's campaign. She is not being herself. She is running a campaign on being a woman, something new, something innovative, something that would show national progress in women's rights, and she is doing absolutely nothing new.

Women for centuries have been in power around the world. Most notable, the many Queens of England, Scotland, France, Spain, Russia. They all seem to have in common the fact that someone in their family was previously a King, an aristocrat, or someone else of power. They were put into office because of a bloodline. There is nothing wrong with that I suppose, but I can assure you the Queen of England did not go for her post on the basis that she was doing something wonderful for women's rights, she was put on the throne out of tradition. I am having a hard time getting past Hilary being any different than these queens. It shows nothing for women's rights that someone rides on their husband's shirttails. There have been many great queens, no one is to say otherwise, but if you are a queen, be a queen. Do not pretend to be making a monumental move for women.

That being said, she needs another basis to be running on. I know that she probably really does want to be President in her own regard, and I have never been one of the Hilary Clinton haters. I would be fine voting for her if her stance on all the political issues I care about matches my own, and I would probably like her more if she would stop with the dirty political tricks that all the politicians keep playing and just get to the issues. I mean, the country has some serious issues, and as a result I do not care about whether or not she stayed with a husband who cheated on her, if she cried, if she is pushy, or whatever else. I don't even care if any candidate is a republican or democrat or liberal or conservative, or if they have been in politics for two years or eighty years. It really doesn't matter to me. What I care about is if they can do the job, do it well, and fix a few of the issues. I'm not even asking for all of the issues to be fixed, just a few. I don't think that is too much.

I do care slightly that Hilary overstated her role in something. I mean, my whole beef is that she isn't being herself. Seriously, does she really need to overstate anything? She was first lady, and there is no doubt she's encountered things in this world that no one else running for office has. She would have been just as close to being President having said she was greeted by children at a welcoming ceremony in another country instead of saying she came under fire. Please note, most other countries do not like the US. Hilary Clinton was greeted amicably in a country that probably doesn't like the US. Well, that would have been a pro, but she fluffed it up. If I had to tell her to change her campaign, I would tell her and any of the other candidates for that matter to read careerbuilder.com. You can't lie (misstate) on the resume and gain any votes. So, she's never seen front line combat? Neither had Joan of Arc, or Queen Elizabeth I. They did ok. There is no reason to give herself a military career she doesn't have. She would do just as well telling the nation she socked her husband when she found out he cheated on her.

Seriously though, look at the power of Princess Diana. She focused on her philanthropy, on the devastation she saw in countries with landmines, of what she did to help. We all know Hilary had to have done stuff as first lady and a senator like that. That was her whole job and we watched her do it. Tell us about it. Tell us how it will help you if you are President. Tell us about the stuff you've backed in Congress and why it means so much to you. Hilary Clinton has had an incredible career. She will go farther if she can be the woman she is. She is in a situation where she does not have to run for office like a man. Her trail has already been blazed. She isn't coming from the bottom of the realms of discriminated against women, but from the top with the aristocrats and queens. She has her foot in the door, that is why she has a nomination, to walk through she has to be true to herself.

Thoughts on Barack's Pastor

Mon, 24 Mar 2008 02:08:14 GMT

I have to laugh at the media. I think it is hilarious. Don't get me wrong, I love me some good news broadcasting just like the rest of us, but watching this campaign where they are not sure who to back on any given day is quite enjoyable. When the media doesn't know who is going to win they are forced to treat both candidates the same. This means, usually that they ignore them and just repeat what they said, which is ideal. But for the last two weeks both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have been having a fair share of media sabotage. The most hilarious of the bunch is Barack's preacher's outrageous comments. The whole situation reminds me of a story my mother told over Easter. Someone asked my mother what she thought about something the pope said and I believe her response was, "Oh, the pope says a lot." A little dose of skepticism never hurt anyone, but has saved a few lives.

There is this attempt by the media to twist this as if Barack Obama believes everything that he is told to believe. That is what I feel is most absurd. First, if he believed everything he was told to believe, I don't think he would be running for President. Second, if there is one person who you pick and choose what to believe from based on your own inherent beliefs, it is a spiritual leader. I mean, everyone is in the same boat spiritually, but if the captain of the boat is telling you to sink the ship, then you are probably just going to dismiss him as being a bit crazy, and not listen. I mean, unless you are one of those 'drink the kool aid' people, which I hope you are not. Blind faith is a whole lot different a concept than just doing what your pastor says. This seems to get confused a lot in every religion.

That being said, as a Catholic, I can appreciate Baracks position. I mean if my personal beliefs matched some priests during the years...well...it could be interesting. I mean, we did just have a sex scandal. Need we go into the Crusades, paying for forgiveness, or the Spanish Inquisition? But that is not what makes my faith. It isn't even something someone said at a Sunday service. Faith doesn't even come from the Bible as some claim. It is something much larger than that, it is something from God. When you really have faith, you can tell the difference between right and wrong. You can tell when someone is telling you something that is wrong. Barack Obama does not seem like a lemming. I doubt, after a career in politics, he is someone who believes everything that someone tells him to believe. It is precisely the fact that he doesn't believe what people tell him to believe that I think he has made such a showing in this campaign.

Which makes me the most sad for Barack Obama. Was he preyed on by someone he trusted? Any rise to power comes with people who you can trust and not trust. It is scary to think that perhaps this Pastor was trying to bring an issue into this campaign. An issue of race, which no one in America will dispute is an issue unless they live under a rock. It is an issue that has been screamed from rooftops, marched about, spoken of, and warred over. It isn't going anywhere. Why was it brought into a campaign where someone was uniting people without regard to race? The only purpose was to divide for political gain of someone. Maybe not for the gain of Hillary Clinton, or John McCain, but for someone who had a much smaller voice and wanted someone to hear him. This small person spoke, and it hurt his very cause. This seems to be a common occurrence anymore. America has forgotten that sometimes silence is also a way to speak. And it should be noted, Obama forgave him, a stronger sign of faith than his pastor's rants.

Use discretion. Do not just speak for speaking's sake, but observe what your speech will do. Is speech really the best method to make your point? Is it the appropriate time to speak? Would silence be more powerful than speech? I mean, Martin Luther King, Jr. said he "...had a dream..." but it wasn't his speech that gained the rights, it was people sitting silently at lunch counters, a woman demanding a seat on a bus, a black man running for congress, and students suffering a year at a segregated school. All that just to get where we are today. Maybe it isn't far enough, but it is somewhere further than we were. I mean, a black man is running for President. Not only is he black, but he is half black and half white which means he is ostracized by both crowds, and yet we love him.

We love him because he embodies a history of this country that is not in Hillary Clinton or John McCain. Don't get me wrong. Both Hillary and John are outstanding candidates. Hillary is one of the strongest women in this entire world, regardless of what people think of her, she is wicked strong. John McCain has been representing this country for years and has done what he has done very well. But neither is someone who has seen both sides of a racial divide and has become something regardless of it. Someone who from birth has been negotiating cultures, lifestyles, and religions because that is a part of who he was, is, and will be. I see nothing negative about that. I think that type of diplomacy might be exactly what this country and the world needs.

The Real War

Wed, 13 Dec 2006 22:04:22 GMT

My vegan roomate from college who happens to be the biggest environmental freak I have ever known is going to be patting my back instead of beating me in the head for once after this blog entry. She would be proud. I am no recycler. I use styrofoam cups from time to time. I eat meat. I am by no means what I would call a member of the green party. I leave that for my aloes. Last night I went and saw Al Gore’s movie about the environment. The scientific details were interesting at best. The shameless ploys against our current administration were entertaining, but a bit out of context for the topic. Overall, the movie was just ok. However, one thing struck a serious cord with me. This movie was just as much a social commentary about the United States changing values. Values far beyond a family unit or prayer in schools. I am talking values dealing with delicate balances in the Earth. The fact that we are a part of the world. Not the world itself. The movie was ultimately a commentary on the way we have, over time, changed from a forward looking positive society to a what I want now society. We have switched from offense to defense. Ok, Let me break this down. We are the most powerful country in the world. We have a ton of money. We have incredible resources. We have incredible manpower. We have one major problem. We forget that all of those resources and even manpower could disappear. The world will regulate itself whether we want it to or not. That is just the environmental side of things. Since we are a part of the environment of Earth and not a god of some sort, that environment plays directly into our lives. Think about it. If there was no skirmish over a water shortage in the middle east, would the wars in the middle east have ever started? If there was an abundance of oil, would we be involved in the middle east conflict at all? The civil war here in the United States had people split directly among lines of agriculture. If there was an abundance of resources in the north and south the civil war might have never occurred. Not saying slavery would not have been abolished. But in fact, the war and slavery were two very separate issues. Even WWI and WWII were about resources. The war against communism was all about resources. It isn’t limited to the US. Every great battle in the history of the world ultimately comes down to a skirmish over resources. Oil, Water, gas, land, food, agriculture, production. All of it. Resources. If we work to help regulate the resources in the world, if we become forward looking, then maybe this world can regain a balance. A balance that humans as a whole have thrown off in the last 100 years. The Native Americans were very in tuned to nature. They realized their lives were not for themselves, but for their children and the children of their children. With this mentality, the world took on something larger than the now. The more I think about it the more I think many of the world’s problems would be solved if we quit thinking about now. If the focus was for our children, social security wouldn’t be depleted by the time I am 60. The environment would be cleaner. The decisions would be better thought out. We would not be at war in Iraq because it wouldn’t be in anyones interest to have nuclear weapons and we would be looking for alternatives to oil to get energy. Nuclear Weapons would hurt the next generation. Alternatives to oil would help the next generation. We would not be simply reacting to the world around us, but planning for the world around us. I think that is the problem with people in power today. It isn’t about tomorrow. It is about today. The entire history of this country has been about tomorrow. The constitution was written with a perspective on the future and a respect for the past. People learned their lessons from the past and tried to change the future. Today,we don’t look at the future. We please ourselves with what is best for now. If that is what continues, we will surely die out. Our resources won’t carry on until the next generation. Our knowledge won’t continue. Eventually, we won’t know the basics to take care of ourselves. In computer terms, not only will an entire generation only know how to use Microsoft Windows, but they won’t know that its basis is a program called DOS. We will not have learned from the generation before us. We will eventually be left with nothing but fragments of technology we don’t know how to use, in an ice age, with air we cannot breathe, and we, just like the dinosaurs, could become extinct. It is the civic duty of every American to see to it that our resources continue to the next generation. It is just like why you balance your checkbook. Track your finances. You want to make sure you have enough money to make it to the next month. You want to know exactly how much money you have. We should be tracking our resources the same way. Budgeting. Working within that budget from generation to generation. Looking for ways to help increase our income and reduce our debts. That we plan our future not react to the present. Only a nation on defense reacts. A nation on offense plans. An offensive nation would budget. The United States should be on offense with all of our power. Why do we play a defensive game? We are destined to lose. Humans are slowly killing ourselves. It isn’t too late. We are still alive. Someone needs to pick up the gavel and make some good decisions. Start looking forward

Forget the UN I have my own decree...A little mothering needed in this world

Tue, 18 Jul 2006 05:49:57 GMT

Ok, So, I wasn't going to write anything but I came out of my study hole for long enough to realize there was stuff going on in the world which makes me want to scream. Why is my world falling apart? What have you people in power (worldwide not just the US) done? And for that reason, We all sit around and complain a lot about everything, but when was the last time that someone did something to change things? That is it I AM OFFICIALLY GROUNDING THE ENTIRE WORLD. Israel, you will return to your country and stay there. Lebanon, you need to get rid of your bad friends and until you do you are grounded. Palestine, Israel is grounded they shouldn't be bothering you, Don't bother them. Iraq, you will stop fighting within yourself and all the Americans will come home where they will also be grounded and will not be allowed to play with the other countries for several years. North Korea you will be throwing away your new toys because you keep using them to kill fish in the Pacific Ocean and that upsets Japan. don't go starting things with Japan. You are grounded. China, well...if you were thinking of doing anything don't you will get grounded too. In fact, I am grounding everyone. As of right now the entire world is grounded. No sneaking out. No sitting in your rooms plotting. None of it. You are all grounded. Do not talk to each other. Leave each other alone. If you need something from one of your neighbor countries you must write a letter or send an email. Write it cordially, and say thank you and please. AND I don't care what you think, You are brothers and sisters, you have to like each other so get over it, whatever it is.

How do you pray?

Tue, 29 Nov 2005 04:12:43 GMT

Not my normal blog entry, but I will post a more normal one later today.

A Prayer

Dear God, (A habit left over from childhood)

In light of the California events, which may be a hoax, a question was brought to mind. There are hundreds of people gathering around a statue of the Virgin Mary, kneeling, praying, crying, bringing roses, adoring. Some people think it is an omen of bad future events. Some think it is a call to prayer. Which brings me to an interesting topic for my blog. Which, I realize is probably going to have every religious nut on the internet attacking me for my beliefs or theirs or whatever the case may be. Thus, the disclaimer prayer. I am not asking them to believe as I do, I am asking them to believe as they do. So, before they even start,please God, don't let them start. I will delete them, and I will keep deleting them. Hate is not from God in any religion. I do not see lines between religions I see progressions and subtle changes. I see people following paths in which they believe. Some roads on the paths are right, some very likely wrong. No religion, denomination or sect has the whole truth. Instead they have people. I see people who misunderstand what they believe, and people who are searching for morsels of truth in whatever form. I see people. Imperfect beings trying to understand their roles on the earth. Looking for answers down many paths. If they think they are right and their way is the only way, I think they are wrong. I do not see one religion, I see one faith in many forms. We were not given the answers for a reason. We are each given a small piece of truth. The goal is to learn from one another, and learn to love each other through learning. We are all a part of one another. We are all a part of one, under one God, whether we call him Brahman, Allah, or Great Spirit. We are one under the heavens and serve a purpose in the hierarchy of life and afterlife. Let the internet crazy religious nuts who hit my blog when they search for this entry, at least, be silent if they feel the need to attack me or anyone else who comments on this entry. Amen.

The Blog Entry

My question is simple. I expect a diversity of answers. How do you pray?

Do you pray by kneeling? Do you pray to the East? The West? North? South? Do you pray standing? Laying down? Bowing? Holding a neighbors hand? Do you pray holding rosary beads? With a bible? With a Quran? Do you pray to ancestors? Do you pray only when you are suffering from a near death experience? Or when do you pray only when you are scared? Do you pray when you are happy? For forgiveness? For Love? For a guy to finally walk into your life and be "the one?" Do you pray traditional prayers handed down through your respective religion for decades? Or do you pray just random things that pop into your head? Perhaps? A little of both? Do you pray in a church? Mosque? Temple? or in Nature? Do you pray for that puppy you have prayed for everyday since you were 7 that has never come? Do you pray while standing on your head? Wearing a hat? Wearing a coat? Wearing a scarf? A sari? A Kimono? Do you pray by singing? Clapping? Dancing? Working?

How do you pray?

Isn't it just as much a prayer to take thanksgiving dinner to a friend who couldn't come because she had the flu? Or to cut off your hair and give it to a child somewhere who has no hair? Or to Leave your take out food with the homeless woman at the bus stop? To help someone who doesn't know their way around town? Or how about by voting for someone you believe in? To call your mother and make sure each conversation ends with "I love you." To compliment someone? To counsel someone through a difficult time using whatever gifts you happen to have? To expect no pay every once in awhile for your services? To make that effort one more time to get unaddicted to alcohol, cigarettes, drugs, caffeine, ex-boyfriends/girlfriends, the internet, your blog, whatever your addiction may be? Aren't all those things a prayer too?

Your life. Not your words are your prayer. It is your everyday that matters. You can read your holy book to yourself in a room all day and no one will care or hear. You can even take your religious text outside and scream it from the tops of mountains and no one will hear you. You can gather in churches, mosques, and temples and your words still be lost. You can fight wars, kill heretics, and burn books to get people to listen to your words, and it will only defeat your cause. Because it is not your words that matter. It is your faith, and that can only be shown through making your life a prayer. Your life is a much stronger prayer than anything uttered at 3:00 on every Wednesday in the walls of a church. You can do that if you like. There is nothing wrong with it. It is just not the most important way to pray.

A saint is not one who runs in front of the crowd. They do not do drastic things or claim fanatical claims. They do not search to be saved or save others. Rather, they sit in the background. Fighting a different battle. A quiet one. With ears and thoughts. Giving advice and helping the helpless. Loving others and never expecting to be noticed even if they are. That is the real battle. The battle to be that Saint.

So why do people go off and pray from inspiration from a statue? If you are inspired, go do something good. Go save your world from people who propogate hate or set straight the misguided and do it passively. Go feed the homeless, clean up New Orleans, Babysit your neighbor's child free of charge so they can go out to the movies alone. It does no good to stand in front of a statue and cry out of fear of horrible futures that might not ever come. Be not afraid.