The Help

I went and saw the movie The Help today. I cried. The acting and the script were superb.
It's so hard to see how far we have come and how far we have yet to go.
Though people of color are no longer slaves and women can vote, there are still groups of people who are being discriminated against.
What is so clear to me are the parallels between the racism in the movie and the issues facing LGBT people today, yet many would claim that there are no similarities at all. Groups of people getting together to try to make legislation that will deny some their rights. Cruel beatings and random slayings of the minority group that go unpunished. Laws limiting the rights of a particular group. Death threats, the depicting of someone as 'less'. Who was I describing there? Blacks, women, LGBT? You don't know do you, because it could have been any of the above.
Many today would be horrified at the atrocities suffered by black people during the civil rights movement, yet would still turn around and argue against full equality for LGBT. I just cannot fathom this blindness.
My heart broke at the hate and bile that was only lightly hinted at in this movie. And is still breaking knowing that this is still going on against blacks, women and LGBT. The 'other' to be sacrificed to the ignorant 'norm'.

Hate and ignorance, using books that are full of tolerance and love to spew intolerance and evil, by people who are just parroting others and have not fully read or understand those books.
I feel so powerless, that I cannot even get my family and friends to see or care about what they are doing to others and how it goes against what they profess to believe in. They do not seem to see history repeating itself yet again.

I don't have any more words, all I have is tears.

And that's My 25 cents...

Wishful thinking...It's just me

Steps I think we should take to make America a good country:

• MMA, Tai Chi and yoga mandatory for all grade levels (kindergarten starts out with just the yoga)
• Weapons training with firearms, blunt and sharp instruments as well as street fighting and strategy/tactics classes mandatory from 5th grade on with younger grades learning care, maintenance and full history (offensive and defensive) of all weaponry
• Mandatory one (1) year of military service sometime between 18-25
• Learning money handling, economics, finance starting in 1st grade
• From 1st grade must learn three (3) languages or more. Oral and written
• From 1st grade there must be serious discussions of history and the repercussions of decisions that were made at the time. Not just a regurgitation and memorization of dates and names
• All grades: Must practice at least two (2) art forms of any medium
• Must participate in one (1) Science or Tech fair per year starting in 5th grade
• Internships and apprenticeships will be provided by area companies during high school for students who have a career path in mind but with no contractual requirement to continue on with that company after high school

The above is for all children, male and female.
That is all for the schools that I can think of right now.

• All government programs will be streamlined to run more efficiently, with fewer loopholes
• Any law that cannot be reasonably enforced will be removed from the books, including obsolete laws
• Any law that is only on the books 'for our own good' will be removed
• The only laws that should be on the books are laws that enforce not harming another person
• All drugs, alcohol and weapons will be legal to own, use and sell
• Any harm caused another person against their will with any of the above or exacerbated by the above will have severe, harsh consequences
• The selling of any of the above to minors will be met with equal intolerance
• Prostitution will be legal
• Drugs, alcohol, weapons and sex will all be monitored, licensed and taxed by the government
• All sex workers will be required to undergo 3 month health exams

You can see that the above would simultaneously save money by ending the war on drugs and sex, and make a lot of money off of all the above.

•  Corporations will be penalized for moving jobs or money out of the country unnecessarily
• Small businesses will get assistance for creating new jobs
• Tax law will be streamlined to close any loopholes
• If a company is not run properly and needs government assistance to stay in business, the executives in charge of the business will not be rewarded with money and exit packages and may even see jail time if the damage is widespread
• There will be heavier levies on companies whose manufacturing or other services are done outside of the country; the more of a product that is made in country, the more of a break that company will get

I know I have more about business and the greedy you-know-whats who run them but I can't think of anymore right now

• Those in Congress shall not have been lawyers as that creates an imbalance and conflict of interest between the Judiciary and Legislative branches of government
• Those holding office shall not have any free benefits that are not readily available for all in the country; so no free health care for themselves and their entire families, no free rides in government vehicles of any kind that do not relate directly to a government function and shall never include family, their salaries/benefits do not continue after their term of service
• Those in office may not accept money or gifts in any way, shape or form from anyone
• Those running for office shall only use the public money allotted to them to run for office and will be disqualified if it is found that any outside money, support or gifts were accepted during their campaign
• Any bill that is introduced for consideration may not have any riders in the bill that do not pertain directly to that bill
• In no bill that is admitted for consideration will there be any earmarks that are not directly related to the main thrust of the bill

I know I have so much more but I can't think of any right at the moment. This one I may come back and update if I think of anything else that I think is pertinent.

And that's My 25 cents...

Do they really think we'll buy it?

With some of America's richest men coming out in support of higher taxes on the wealthy; one has to wonder what the agenda is of those in government who are opposing tax hikes. Many of them use the excuse that the lower taxes will allow these 'job creators' to open more positions in America. As these 'job creators' have had these lower taxes for almost a decade now and the number of jobs has gone down not up, I fail to see the validity of this argument.
So, once again, what is the agenda of those in office who continue to oppose imposing higher taxes and closing tax loopholes on that top 1%?
More and more people are coming out and asking that question, and no matter how loud they continue to repeat that same lame answer, we will continue to ask; because that is still our right here in America. They have not yet succeeded in taking that away from us.

And that's My 25 cents...

Greed Corruption Materialism

In the last few days, listening to and reading news stories on money, politicians and large corporations; I have started to feel a huge, yawning pit of helplessness.
Here in America, the divide between the haves and the have-nots in now a chasm. And the people who should be protecting the rights and lives of the have-nots are in the pockets of the haves. There is no clear way out of this quagmire of deceit, lies, greed and selfishness. No one currently in a position of power or running for a position of power is a good option to help re-stabilize society.  I certainly do not expect that there will be someone who will follow my beliefs down the line. I do wish that someone would have the welfare of the people rather than someone who is just going to make sure that the interests of the industries that are paying them are seen to.
What I see today are people who are poised to turn back time. Strip the rights of women and minorities, take away the protections for our environment and future generations, forcing their religious views on the public, giving freer rein to those who got us here to begin with, taking away all the protections put in place to keep the haves honest, forcing the have-nots to shoulder more and more of the burden for the haves, taking away or hollowing out any programs designed to give the have-nots a chance to move closer to the haves. No matter what history has shown, the haves seem bent on continuing in their course, seemingly gambling on the hope that nothing will happen in their lifetimes. Increasingly forgetting their obligations and responsibilities in favor of their pleasure. Giving in to their sense of entitlement and lack of accountability.
We see this as well in the, admittedly, horrifying rioting in England. It is true that the rioters are committing crimes and acts of violence but it is reckless (or willful) blindness on the part of the politicians to say that these riots have only the greed and selfishness of the rioters behind it. When it is very clear, even to those of us not in politics that the underlying sickness is the horrifying disconnect between the protectors and the protectees.  Today's politicians seem to have forgotten or buried the simple fact that they are public servants, they are there to serve and protect the public. They are not put in office to take money on the side from large firms to look after their interests even if they could bring harm to the public as a whole. The whole job of politicians is to keep that very thing from happening, to protect the public the environment and our future from harm. Corporations do not have loyalty to a particular country anymore, they can go anywhere in the world now. Now more than ever we need politicians to keep the depredations of large corporations and the very rich from grinding down the general public. Large corporations do not but should care that they can only grind down the public for so long before there is nothing more to get from it.
As I have said before, I think that the first thing that went wrong was that we started paying our politicians and quit making it a volunteer assignment. The second error was allowing lawyers to be politicians. I believe that, as they are lawyers and therefore part of the judicial branch, lawyers should not be allowed to become politicians. Third, very few of the current politicians have ever run a business or know anything about budgeting. Its all games and getting their way over all the others or making sure they get a share of the pie.
I do not see a way out of this mess as long as the politicians are willingly blinding themselves to the true issues and unwilling to remove their hands from the pockets of large corporations.

And that's My 25 cents...

Borrowers and Lenders

That's it. I am never borrowing money ever again. If I don't have the money then I can't get it until I save up the money for it. I think that should become the norm from now on. I read once that there didn't used to be storage units until sometime in the 70's and now there are 1000's of acres dedicated to them in this country. If you have so much stuff that you need to put some of it in a storage unit, which also means it's not stuff you need to use everyday, that means you have too much stuff and need to get rid of it.   Period.
Acquisitiveness and impatience are two of the hallmarks of our society today. The first as seen by the rise of storage units and the second as seen by the rise of lenders in all their forms. Banks, mortgage companies, credit cards, payday loans. I have read much history and other than not breaking peoples bones, many lenders' practices and rates today make the loan sharks of the past look like school girls. We as citizens of this country have given way too much power into the hands of what are basically mirages as seen most concretely by the meltdown a few years ago and that is looking to be a reality again in the very near future.
So, I have cut up all my cards and made a list of the things I have decided are important to me to obtain for my future. And then I cut that list in half. And then I set up a separate account to save up money to purchase those things. That is how it should be done and that is how I am going to do it and that is how I am going to teach my daughter to do it. We should all start doing this and take back our power.

And that's My 25 cents...

London burning...

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-consumers-overseas-20110808,0,6537651.story
corps

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2011/08/08/290205/verizon-strike-profits/
verizon bad

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/08/london-riots-2011-timelapse_n_921636.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000008

"...the riots are very likely the result of a mix of poor policing and social deprivation."

Really?!?!?!?! How about extremely pissed off @ the extreme greed and selfishness by exec's of large corps and politicians in euro and us.

Did I not say the French Revolution? Right now the poor are looting the poor but that could change. If someone figures out a way to channel the anger and frustration these people are feeling and turn it toward those who truly deserve their anger (again not condoning violence of any kind) we may actually see a modern day version of that particular situation yet again. And not that I in any way think that's the best way to handle the situation, but I can certainly understand and sympathize with the feelings that are behind it.

And that's My 25 cents...

Election

I do apologize yet again blog friends but I can't be quiet about this issue. Those who know me well know that I very rarely let myself feel strongly about anything but in these times none of us can afford to stand back and watch. Read this first article, then whether you are Republican, Democrat, or like myself Independent; email your state representatives, email the President (that is the second link) and tell them to stand up for their constituents because regardless of how much money the rich and big business are giving them they probably won't be in office come next election the way they are going now.  Make your voices heard. Regardless of how this Presidency has turned out, the fact that our voices were heard by the record number of voters that turned out should let us all know how truly powerful we are. Again sorry and thank you.

http://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=f7302009-cbcd-440e-9a30-405aeebe144f
http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact
http://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=06100e33-14ba-4dbf-9b8d-2766689e57eb

The legislators that are running this country hear ours voices, know what it is that we want them to do. They hear the opinions of the economists and others who see and understand what is going on in our country right now and their proposals (sound, reasonable proposals) on the steps needed to strengthen America and the economy. They are not listening because they are being paid not to. They are being paid by the rich and big business to keep them getting richer without having to repay those who are making that so. These short-sighted people do not care that in the long run, this will hurt them as well. Or, if not them then their descendants. As they will not feel the direct effect of the disaster they are helping to inflict on the whole world they simply do not care. As long as they get to buy another island or bigger yacht or newest jet, they simply do not care what happens to the rest of the world.
We have to make them care, we have to stand up as we did in the 2008 elections. We saw then that our voices can be heard, that we can make a difference. Remember the French Revolution. The aristocrats simply had no frame of reference for what befell them. They simply could not fathom that the common people (though they vastly outnumbered the aristocrats) had the ability or the wherewithal to fight back or to make such a sweeping impact on their way of life.
THEY WERE WRONG
I am not in any way advocating the violence and death that was a part of that revolution. What I am saying is that we need to stand up, we need to be heard, we need to remind those running our states and those in DC that they are there because we put them there. WE DID. Not the rich or the corporations who are pouring money into their private coffers. And we can take them out of office just as easily.
What happened in June was our fault. We sat back down. We thought once was enough. We need to realize that freedom is an ongoing responsibility that never ends. When we sit down, when we remain quiet, when we decide we have done enough; then those who have the money, those that continue to push their own selfish agenda will win the day.
The war for independence, for freedom, for equality will never be over. And though we may have lost a battle by backing off, we can win the next one by standing up again.
Whatever happens this next election day, whomever wins; we will get yet again exactly what we deserve and will have no one to blame but ourselves.

And that's My 25 cents...

Who should I blame first?

I know, the budget again.

Ok here goes.

All of us are to blame for this mess.

Obama for not having a backbone and sticking up for revenue added to the budget deal and restructuring the public programs to make them more efficient rather than hemorrhaging money, therefore reducing their budgets.

Congress, both the House and the Senate, for acting like a bunch of 5th graders. I hate you so I'm going to take the whole country including the people whose interests I'm allegedly voting for. And for taking money from special interest, large corporations and voting their way instead.

Big Business and special interest groups who are feeding off of America and the people who live here but do not feel any sense of responsibility towards them.

The S&P and Moody's for creating this artificial environment in the first place. Then making it worse with this downgrade. Shame on you.

The American people for voting the Tea Party in, in the first place. For not having any patience and voting in a knee-jerk reaction. For giving the Democrats only 1 year to try to fix what took 8 years to screw up and handing the government back to the party and the people that got us here in the first place. So to you I say thank you so very much for screwing it up for the rest of us and stay home next voting season, K?

So we all together made this whole stinking mess and unfortunately the people who could fix the situation are not in power and are not being listened to by the ones who are in power because the ones who are in power are listening to the people who are giving them whole piles of money and f#$# the rest of us who voted them in to office and who's voices they are 'supposed' to be. Thanks so much, a$$h@les.

And that's My 25 cents...