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After a tough 2009, I was looking forward to a better 2010.  We do that don’t we…look for things to change just because we turn the last page in the calendar.  It’s not Thanksgiving so I’m not interested in listing the things I’m grateful for.  I have plenty but I’m just not “feeling” that right now if you know what I mean.  My high school history teacher’s memorial service was last weekend.  He was the first Black teacher at Evanston High School, a great teacher and a really good person who went beyond the call of duty with his students.  We’ll miss him!  Someone I consider a good Congressman who would speak up for the people, John Murtha died this week.  Now why couldn’t it have been….I won’t mention specific names but I could give a very long list of folks I’d rather see gone than Murtha.  These two people had character and integrity.

Last week Alabama Republican Sen. Richard Shelby put a “hold” on all Obama nominations (about 70) for executive branch positions to pressure the Air Force into changing the terms of its “request for proposals” for the award of the multi-billion dollar aircraft contract.  

The Northrup-Grumman/Airbus team says it plans to build some of the aircraft in Alabama, which presumably would result in the  hiring and training hundreds of Shelby’s constituents.

What is clear from the senator’s announcement blocking presidential appointees is that bringing earmark dollars home to Alabama is more important to Shelby than what the thousands of  jobs at Boeing an American company , the Air Force, and what the nation, needs for future defense. He wants our tax dollars to go to a French company Airbus for a possibly a few hundred jobs in his state. How short sighted is that?  The Republican Party of  “no” would still rather see the country fail than provide any ideas or support to our president.  To hell with the people and keep the hateful, divisive rhetoric up to keep people distracted and divided.  That tea party convention in Tennessee with Sarah Palin as the keynote is a prime example.

What happened to a media that used to do their homework and would call people out on blatant lies and foolish behavior?  What are they afraid of?  Fellow boomers? I hope you are busy writing letters, making calls and not “asleep at the switch”.  Bad things happen when good people stand by and do nothing!

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Since the devastating earthquake in Haiti, I have been impressed with the response from the United States and the world to help.  Hurricane after hurricane ravaging the country brought little help but a massive earthquake finally did. During this time of need I have become somewhat enlightened about Haiti’s history and our role in it. From 1957 to 1986 Haiti was forced to live under US backed dictators “Papa Doc” and “Baby Doc” Duvlaier. The US supported these dictators economically and militarily because they did what the US wanted and were politically “anti-communist” . Duvalier stole millions from Haiti and ran up hundreds of millions in debt that Haiti still owes. Ten thousand Haitians lost their lives. Estimates say that Haiti owes $1.3 billion in external debt and that 40% of that debt was run up by the US-backed Duvaliers. I vaguely remember Haitian revolutions and dictators being forced from the country.

 

My friend Helen Burleson provides this information in her blog:

 

Thirty years ago Haiti imported no rice. Today Haiti imports nearly all its rice. Though Haiti was the sugar growing capital of the Caribbean, it now imports sugar as well. Why? The US and the US dominated world financial institutions – the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank – forced Haiti to open its markets to the world. Then the US dumped millions of tons of US subsidized rice and sugar into Haiti – undercutting their farmers and ruining Haitian agriculture. By ruining Haitian agriculture, the US has forced Haiti into becoming the third largest world market for US rice. Good for US farmers, bad for Haiti.

 

In 2002, the US stopped hundreds of millions of dollars in loans to Haiti which were to be used for, among other public projects like education, roads. These are the same roads which relief teams are having so much trouble navigating now!

 

In 2004, the US again destroyed democracy in Haiti when they supported the coup against Haiti’s elected President Aristide.

 

US based corporations have for years been teaming up with Haitian elite to run sweatshops teeming with tens of thousands of Haitians who earn less than $2 a day. The Haitian people have resisted the economic and military power of the US and others ever since their independence. Like all of us, Haitians made their own mistakes as well. But US power has forced Haitians to pay great prices – deaths, debt and abuse. It is time for the people of the US to join with Haitians and reverse the course of US-Haitian relations. 

 

We need to pay better attention to what our government does in the world. The condition of this country is not all of their own doing. We owe the Haitian people real support over a long period of time to help them recover from years of abuse. We live in a democracy so speak up! 

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You know how old tunes can get stuck on your mind and you just can’t seem to stop hearing them? That Bette Midler song “From a Distance” has been rolling through my head day and night. You know the lyrics… they go something like from a distance there is harmony, the voice of hope and peace…from a distance we all have enough and no one is in need…there are no guns, no bombs, no disease and no hungry mouths to feed. The chorus repeats over and over “God is watching us…God is watching us from a distance”. When I reflect on the last decade of 3 wars, the financial meltdown of 2008 and 2009, the continued political polarization, the lack of jobs, hateful ministers praying for harm to come to our president, Katrina and now the earthquake of Haiti, I have a message for God…if you’re watching at a distance, quit it.  We need some help down here!

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In five days it will be 2010.  Ten years since the beginning of the new millenium.  Wasn’t the world supposed to end? There were so many crazy predictions.  Well we certainly have endured or should I say survived plenty since the year 2000.  Just to name a few… even more polarized politics with George W. Bush, the 911 terrorist attack, two ongoing wars that are bankrupting the country, our ex-governor Ryan went to jail, our impeached governor Blagojevich awaits perhaps the same fate, loss of jobs, trillion dollar bailouts of wall street and financial institutions, the collapse of Enron, Arthur Andersen, AIG and others, the subprime mortgage crisis.  But what the hell.  We’re still here.  The White Sox won the World Series in 2005.  The Bears went to the Super Bowl in 2007.  We elected the first African American president, Barack Obama in 2008!   In the next decade I have a few big wishes which I know will not come true…and it’s not world peace.  I wish I would never have to hear the names Sarah Palin, Joe the Plumber and Terri Schiavo again.  I wish Rush Limbaugh, Bill O’Reilly, Glenn Beck, the tea baggers and other right wing haters would be seen as the hypocritical nut jobs that they are and just SHUT UP!  Oh well, you can’t get everything you wish for.  The wars will probably end before this happens!

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And another month has passed and we are still talking about, arguing about, lying about, negotiating and “teabagging” health care (health insurance) reform.  The need for reform is such a no brainer.  If nothing is done health care will blow a hole through the government’s budget and our personal budgets. Problem is the folks who have to pass the reform are the beneficiaries of the status quo. Don’t tell me Joe Lieberman and any of the other Senators/obstructionists opposed to the public option are concerned about the budget or the average citizen getting decent health care in America. He and his colleagues have the best plan and care available.  Ever wonder why they don’t think you deserve the same?  Our political representatives for the most part are only concerned about what’s in it for them and not the constituency that elected them to office.  And will somebody please tell the  ”teabaggers” that health reform is all about helping THEM?  The level of ignorance among the American public still surprises and disappoints me.

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It’s been a wild and crazy November.  My husband and I traveled with friends to Carmel, California  and took a 7 day Mediterranean cruise.  Both trips were fabulous! I could add a post about both.  But what I finally decided to talk about today is “Black Friday”.  It’s one of the few times that the word black in media talk actually stands for something positive.  It’s the time when the traditional Christmas shopping begins thus helping retailers end the year in the black (making a profit).  The day after Thanksgiving begins around 4:00 a.m. with the opening of major retail stores who are offering extreme discounts on merchandise.  I’m not  that early a riser so I began my shopping day around 7:30 a.m.  Being the loyal customer that I am, I started my shopping at the community stores in a local mall before heading to different malls that would provide my community no financial benefit.  I found a few items that I considered a pretty good deal, sweaters at $19.95, baby sleep wear at $9.95 and trouser socks for $2 bucks a pair.  These were door buster items.  I came armed with coupons offering  an additional 10, 15 or 20% off.  They didn’t apply to “incredible value” merchandise or door busters.  They were only for sale items.  I shopped for several hours and never found a single item on regular sale.  Which meant I either bought items at regular price or a door buster which had a time limit on availability of pricing.  That calls for some serious power shopping considering you lose time standing in line to purchase your items.  If you’re bold you keeping shopping from department to department carrying your items with you even from floor to floor hoping security doesn’t stop you and accuse you of shop lifting.  You stand in line to purchase only when you can no longer hold your items and select new ones at the same time.  But here was the deal of the day.  I found some Christmas wine glasses (box of 4) for $34 as marked on the box at 60% off.  Such a deal!  I thought I might buy 3 boxes at that price.  Interestingly, only one box was marked at $34.  The others had the stickers removed and one box was retagged at $50.  When I took the boxes to the check out counter, the computer rang up $50 which I immediately challenged since my box was marked at $34.  The sales clerk insisted the price was correct in the computer and asked if I wanted to speak with the manager. I said YES.  After a few moments, the phone rang and the sales clerk explained the situation to the, I assume, manager at the other end of the line.  When she hung up she said, “someone forgot to change the tag on your box”.  Now that answer was totally unacceptable and I expressed my dissatisfaction.  I thought they would at least honor the pricing on the one box.  The phone rang again and this time with a different answer.  The sales clerk again explained my unhappiness with pricing in such detail, it must have been a different manager.  This time the response was “Carsons reserves the right to change prices at any time”.  Now that answer pissed me off more than ever…so the incredible value/door buster sale deal at Carson Pirie Scott means… the real price of $34 is increased to $50 (which is about 50% higher than the original price) and then the customer is given 60% off which means what exactly!  Deceptive marketing.  Neither manager had the courage to at least face the customer.  They left that challenge to the non-decision maker, the sales clerk. So how good were your incredible deals on black Friday? Real or fake?

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  We spend more than any other country in the world and contrary to the opinion of some (Congress), we don’t have the best health care in the world.  Basic health care should be a right of all U.S. citizens.  The U.S. House of Representatives is set to vote as early as this Saturday, Nov. 7th, on the most important piece of health care legislation in more than four decades. While the Affordable Health Care for America Act, (H.R. 3962) is far from an ideal health care reform bill, it is a necessary step towards repairing our failing, profit-driven health care system.  Send a message to your representative urging their support of the Weiner amendment for a national single-payer health insurance plan; failing that, members should support a stronger public insurance plan.  The constitution begins “We the people…”  Our government should be about protecting people not companies, especially those businesses that continue to send our jobs off shore!  Don’t complain…do something.

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What is this world coming to?  Everyday in the media we hear an overwhelming amount news about violence in the community. The senseless deaths of teenagers who just happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, school communities fighting against other school communities, carjacking the elderly, nursing home assaults and rapes, gang violence is becoming pervasive.  When did we stop caring about each other?  When did we stop respecting the elderly? What happened to make us hate ourselves so much that no one else matters either? What happened to honor among thieves or a fair fight?  There seems to be more churches with larger congregations than ever having less impact on what’s truly important than ever.  People, especially young people are full of frustration, full of anger, full of disappointment and as the garbage piles up they need a place to dump it. I pray they don’t dump it on me or you!  We all see kids carrying garbage around.  Next time don’t avoid it.  Try to help them unload it in a more positive, healthy way.

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Why are we so obsessed with famous people and their sex lives?  We seem to only be upset about behavior when it involves sex. Frankly, I could care less about the David Letterman scandal.  It’s his wife’s problem, not mine.  All this talk about CBS’s credibility regarding the scandal is insincere and a waste of time.  What we should care about is non biased accuracy and truth in reporting the news.  If networks were to fire all employees or celebrities having affairs outside their marriages, there probably wouldn’t be many folks left to produce the shows or star in them. Let’s talk about firing people who misrepresent the truth or blatantly lie in their reporting. Let the sex go.  It’s none of your business!

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Anyone heard the latest crazy words out of Michelle Bachmann’s mouth?  Is she mentally ill, a puppet, just plain evil or what?  I don’t know what to think of a person who willfully misrepresents everything. She lied again yesterday about the high school health services section of the health care reform bill.  She knows it says nothing will be done without parental permission yet she makes it sound as if the opposite is true. What is wrong with her?  I really want to know.  Will the people of Minnesota re-elect her?  Check out what Helen Philpot has to say about her at margaretandhelen.wordpress.com.