Liberals are NOT the Root of all Evil

Amid all the bad news being reported (record deficit by our current administration; more bombings: Iraq, India, Turkey, etc.; job losses; rising costs; the list goes on and on) is the story about the gunman who killed two people and wounded seven others in a church in Knoxville, TN, because – among other things – he hated liberals and the liberal stance. I find it very interesting that there have been many stories over the years of this type and they are, as far as I can remember, always a conservative shooting a liberal. Remember all those bombings and shootings related to abortion clinics?

What’s wrong with being liberal? Are they anti-society? Are they out to take control of the world? Do they secretly worship the devil? I’ve looked around at a number of Web sites (and a selection of books) and find an unbelievable amount of hysteria and inflammatory remarks about the dreaded liberals. However, real life is not written in just black or white. Everything is some shade of gray. Unfortunately the popular press, the news media, and a great many others want to cast everyone and everything as “us vs. them” – and “them” is always evil.

Do you know where you stand on conservative vs. liberal? If you select several people at random and talk with them you are bound to find out that they have a number of views that are conservative and a number of views that are liberal. Where do you stand? If you are curious, take this Political Quiz to see where on the sliding scale of liberal vs. conservative you stand. You might be surprised.

I also came across another site, the Student News Daily, with a lengthy table listing the differences between liberal and conservative. Personally, I’ve always thought of myself as a liberal (open minded; willing to listen; willing to tolerate other’s views and differences; belief that abortion should be left up to a woman and her family, not the government; pro-environmental protection; pro-science; belief that a huge government is not the best government; among other things). I would hope that this does not make me a target for someone toting a gun just because they disagree with me. Everyone is an individual and if we shoot everyone that doesn’t agree with us there will be no humans left alive on this planet. Oh, for the record, my quiz score puts me only slightly to the liberal side.

What happened to common sense? Is it just me, or is the human race going crazy? Where is compassion, understanding, patience? Current events are scaring the heck out of me. I don’t know whether to go outside and scream at the top of my lungs or build an underground bunker and hide till it’s all over.

Some Travel Photos

I have always enjoyed photography and try to take a camera with me wherever I travel, even if it is only my little point-n-shoot digital. Today I thought I'd share some of my favorite point-n-shoot photos with you. These first two were taken when I got to travel to the island of Terceira in the Azores on a business trip:
This next one is a sunset shot that I took in my front yard. Yea, it's not a travel photo, but it's one I like. I knew the light wouldn't hold for long and I didn't have time to set up my big camera and tripod, so I just grabbed the little camera and steadied it on the roof of my car.
These last two are from a cruise I went on last year. Once again I only took the little camera, mostly because if something happened to it I wouldn't be out too much money. But once again the little camera did OK. The moonlight photo was taken by holding the camera on the railing of the boat.

You don't need fancy equipment to take good photos, just open your eyes to the beauty of the world around you.

2008 Presidential Candidates

Last week I wrote about how disinterested I am in the national elections this year. This got me to thinking about who the candidates are and what choices we really have. For good or bad, the only candidates with a real chance of actually winning are the Democratic and Republican (I did that alphabetically only with no intended implication of one being better than the other) candidates. However, they aren’t the only guys running for our highest office. I did some checking and was really surprised at how many people were vying for the job. Vote Smart has the full list, check it out here.

Because the popular vote does not determine the winner in the Presidential election (it’s all done by the Electoral College) it is pretty useless to vote for anyone other than one of the two main candidates. The absolute best person for the office could be running under some other party and they have virtually no chance of winning the election, even if they get the most [popular] votes.

How does someone win the election? All they need is 270 Electoral College votes. It’s that simple. And you thought your vote mattered! Eight years ago we had an election where the popular vote went to one person and the office went to the other. Check out this link to find out what the current standings are.

Still want to vote for one of the two main candidates? Not sure which one? Take the quiz at the Washington Post to see which one of them is closest to you on important issues.

2008 Elections

I came across this while surfing through some of my favorite blogs the other day. It's a new word recommendation for the dictionary:

Elec-tile Dysfunction: The inability to become aroused over any of the choices for President put forth by either of the two political parties in the 2008 election year.

This really resonated with me. Back in January I wrote a blog about the primary elections going on in my state and why I felt disenfranchised by the whole mess. Well, I still don't feel any better about the whole process. Our nation is going through a series of very difficult 'economic corrections' right now and I, like many folks, have little faith in my elected officials being able to do anything constructive about the situation.

The local area of politics, and maybe the state level, is the only place I'm interested in. It is the only place that I feel I have any real control over my future and any real say in the outcome of the election. As for the national election, I'm still trying to decide who my write-in name should be for president.

Signed,
Looking for suggestions

A helping hand

What is one of the greatest gifts that one person can give another? Well, there was a song by the Beatles that had a line that went something like this: “I get by with a little help from my friends.” There are two phrases that come to mind also: “circle of friends” and “circle of life.” [which is also the title to a song by Elton John and Tim Rice]

Humans are, for the most part, very social. We live in groups, communities, cities, nations. We depend upon the work of others to survive. Imagine what your life would be like if you had to grow and process all of your food, generate all of your own energy, pump your own water, build your own shelter, manipulate fibers to create your own clothing, and do everything else you needed to survive on a daily basis. Do you think you could do it? I suspect that very, very few of us could.

It is a great shame that we – the human race that is – are unable to cooperate together to work towards the good of humanity. I wonder sometimes what we might have been able to achieve if we had not wasted so much time, energy, money, and lives on hate, violence and war. It makes me so very sad. My hopes and dreams of youth have been demolished by stupidity, corporate greed, and governmental waste.

Alas, all I can do is take care of my own little circle. That is what truly gives me satisfaction in my life. Until very recently friends were the only family that I had. I have been very fortunate to have some incredible people in my life (including the members of my new found family!). For this I am eternally grateful. I truly do not know where I would be without them.

My Summer Pictures

Guess you could call me a water person since I love to take pictures of rivers, lakes, and the ocean. Since the northern hemisphere is now officially in summer I thought I'd share some of my summer photos with you.
The lake photo above was taken on Lake Adair in Orlando, Florida. I took this in the morning on my way to work.
This creek (shown above) is behind my house. It's very peaceful back there.
If you read my blog last week you know that I've just recently been reunited with my birth family. I took the flower picture above when my sister and I were on a bike ride. The photo below was also taken during our ride. I find it interesting that she also has a creek behind her house.

Ah, the beach. A magical place. This was taken on Anastasia Island which is south of St. Augustine. The beach there is wide and the surf is perfect. It is my favorite beach in Florida. Just be careful driving there because the sand is soft - I've gotten stuck more than once! Guess I need a 4-wheel drive.

A most remarkable occurrence

There are moments in your life when the universe seems to smile on you with all of its glory. I do not know what I’ve done to deserve such an event (can such a thing be earned? I really have my doubts.), but recently I have been the beneficiary of something wonderful and truly remarkable. Let me explain.

As most of my friends know I was adopted at birth. The story I had of my birth mother was a sad one. It left me reluctant to search for my birth family after the death of the last member of my adoptive family. I did try contacting the state where I was born, but they basically told me to get lost. Later I found a document left to me by my adoptive family with a name on it. I used several internet search resources and located someone that I felt sure must have known my mother. However, thoughts of my birth story left me with the feeling that I would be the last person on the planet that they would want to hear from. Time passed, I never made that phone call.

Then with the suddenness of a bolt out of the blue my life changed forever. I received a call from a child welfare case worker from the state where I was born. Turns out I have a sister that I never knew about and she was looking for me! It’s a long story, but basically she was also adopted at birth and went looking for her birth family. She found a mother, father, and two brothers who told her about another missing sister. The search took several years, but find me they did.

We’ve had a ‘family reunion’ (that’s why I have not posted anything for a couple of weeks) and everything went well. We are geographically scattered (what family isn’t these days), but with e-mail and phone calls we can stay in touch. I now have health information on my parents and grandparents. I have a sister, brothers, mother, niece and nephews. What a wonderful gift.

We met with the case worker who did all the work. She asked that I let people know that there are services out there for families and individuals. If you were adopted, if you put someone up for adoption, or if someone in your family was put up for adoption, you can get help and information. I had talked to the wrong department but my sister did not. Every state has a child welfare department. That is the place to start. Even if all you want is some medical information, you should contact the state you were born or adopted in. While the search may take years (mine did), the majority of the cases have happy endings (like mine).

Believe me, I wish now I’d made that phone call years ago (I did have the right phone number as it turns out). I missed out on meeting my father and lost several years of knowing my family – these are things I will regret the rest of my life. If you or someone you know was adopted, please don’t wait. A couple of simple phone calls to a child welfare department could change your or their life forever.

One last thing: don’t bother with expensive and private search agencies. The case worker told us that most of those people contact the child welfare departments to find the person/family. Save the money for the reunion, just contact the state yourself.