Results tagged “My Opinion”

I have rediscovered my love of reading. When I was growing up, I always had a book with me. I read as I brushed my teeth, dried my hair, ate my breakfast, walked to the bus stop, on the way to school and whenever I had a break during the day. My senior year of highschool, I read over 100 books. My favorites at the time were gothic romance, Stephen King, Dean Koontz and John Saul. My 12th grade English teacher, Mrs. Boswell, told me it was fine to read the fun stuff, but to be sure to spend time in the classics as well. I took her advice to heart and developed a love for Hardy, Steinbeck, Dickens and Vonnegut (to name a few). Well, now my challenge to myself is to read nonfiction books as well as fiction.

You can check on my Shelfari account in the sidebar of my blog to see what all I have been reading this year. I read from my Kindle while I exercise and then from the stack of books that I have collected over the last 10 years, but hadn't gotten around to reading. The book I finished today was Reversing Heart Disease. It is a book that my hubby bought a few years ago, but then never read. When my dear friend, Carole, called me to tell me her hubby had had a heart attack, Daniel remembered the book and told her about it. I thought to myself...this is a book I should read, so onto my shelf it went. And I got a copy of Reversing Diabetes by Dr. Whitaker to read on my Kindle. I have a history of Diabetes in my family. I am overweight, sedentary and love to eat sweets. Last August, after my yearly physical, my doctor sent me my blood test results and a prescription for a cholesterol medication.

I love my Dad and have long realized that he is one of the smartest people I know. Over the years, he has come up with many great ideas, some of which have come to pass. For instance, my dad thought of inventing the artifical tree with light bulbs already on the branches long before it ever came to be.

Tonight as we were chatting, he shared with me another great idea and I am going to share it here just in case the power's that be are listening!

My father has worked hard all of his life. When I was growing up, he worked a 9-5 job, then he built houses on the side. Later, he switched to just building houses and even today, with my 64 year old father, often puts in 12 hour or more days. It frustrates him that the government takes part of his hard earned money to pay for people who won't get a job. Now, don't get on your high horse...neither he nor I are talking about the people who have lost job during this current economic situation. But here's Dad's idea.

He periodically has to take a drug test where he works. Many company's do this now as standard procedure. So, if he has to take a drug test to keep his job, why don't welfare recipients have to take a drug test to receive their assistance. If drug use is evident, then no assistance is given.

I wonder if someone in Washington will read this and give this idea a whirl? Or if it would be too politically incorrect because the reason these people are on drugs is because they are down-trodden by society?

I say 'bah' to that possibility! If anyone has an excuse to take drugs to escape, it would be the hard working individuals who keep this country together. They get up 5 days a week and spend most of their day working in one capacity or another and putting up with all of the stresses that entails. Then they come home and sit around the kitchen table with their checkbook in hand and wonder how they are going to pay all of the bills this month because the expenses keep going up and the checks keep shrinking. So if there is someone who has a 'reasonable' excuse to use drugs, it is the hard working middle class, not the ones sitting at home watching television all day after they pick up their government assistance.

I did not vote for President Obama. I did not think he had the experience needed to hold the highest office in the land. He is smart, but his smarts are book smarts. And book smarts are not enough. He makes a pretty speech. He looks good on camera, though like many other presidents before him, the grey in his hair has grown exponentially since he took office a year ago. He is naive. Or at least he was when he took the office of President. He thought he could bring about change just by saying it. He thought that being the first black President of the U.S. would mean change was inevitable. But instead of getting people to work together, he and the Democratic Party have been ramming their agenda down the throats of the rest of the people in the country. And last week, the country fought back with the vote in Massachussetts.

While I did not vote for Obama, I was hoping that the years with him as leader would help to bring our country closer together. I hoped he really could get in there and make a difference.The divide in this country between the conservatives and liberals has grown larger than the Grand Canyon. The urbanites, who lean to the liberal side view the rural inhabitants as stupid, bigoted, and backward. The rurals, who tend to lean towards the conservative end of the spectrum are outraged at the liberals who they see as lazy people who don't know the meaning of hard work and who are trying to undermine the basic principles of our country.

Guess what...it's not black and white and both sides are wrong. We all need one another. Much like the North and South back in the 1800s, we are two sides that make part of a whole. Each side has strengths and weaknesses and if we would stop letting lobbyists and politicians divide us, we could come together and become the better nation for it. Instead we are fighting amongst ourselves like children and we are letting the media drive a wedge between us.

It has become a game of tit for tat. The Republicans mistreated the Democrats when they were in control. When the Democrats came to office, they did the same and said, 'well they did it first.' Come on...are you children or grown men and women?

Someone is going to have to be brave, step up, roll up their sleeves and say 'let's work together'.

And then someone else is going to have to make a stand and say..."Yep! We are here at the request of the public. They voted for us. They pay our salary. We need to find out what it is they want, then we need to figure out how to please the most people. We need to stop making this a peacock show where we all strut around trying to outshine the other. We need to get down to the business of building a government that the people want."

My kids and I have been studying some about the American Revolution lately. I hope that our country doesn't have to resort to another revolution to bring us all together, but things need to change. America stands on the beliefs of the rights of the people. America led the way by creating a government that was formed by the people and was supposed to work for the people. And America led the way by creating a Bill of Rights that said what the government could not to do the people. Yet, instead of continuing to be a beacon of light and leading the way in this world, we have become a country of bickering children who can only see things one way - theirs. I know those who will vote along party lines regardless of the candidates. The politicians and media have done their job well. And we have become lazy. Why try to figure out what the politician stands for? Why try to determine who will make the better leader? Why use our brains at all? Just ask the question...who is from which party, then pick the party that you have become brainwashed to follow.

WAKE UP! We need fresh blood. We need a new strong 3rd party. We need to stop business as usual in Washington! We need people who believe in America. We need people who will listen to their constituents. We need people who spend their time in office concentrating on making our country a better place instead of spending their time if office thinking about how they can position themselves to win the next election. Our country desparately needs term limits! 6 years for the President with no chance at re-election. Then he can spend all of his time working on his job, not worrying about getting re-elected. The same thing for senators and representatives. Think of the money our country would save because these servants, and that is what they are supposed to be, would be spending their time in office actually working, not seeking photo ops and impressive interviews.

I started writing this post with the thought in mind that I am sorry that President Obama's desire for change has hit a brick wall. He, along with others in the past, came into Washington hoping to change things, yet here we are...business as usual. So my post evolved into my rambling thoughts of the changes we need to make if our country is to go forward. Or we can continue to sit and spin our wheels, changing leaders every few years, and having more and more hard feelings rise up among Americans... And while we are bickering among ourselves, other countries will grow and surpass us. And some countries, or the terrorists hiding in them, will take advantage of our division and our business as usual attitude and weaken us even more.

I have often heard it said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. We see this when people imitate celebrity hairstyles and fashions. We see this when our children latch onto an older friend or a popular child and begin to imitate them. It is their way of being accepted, being part of the pack, fitting in. And it is their way of telling the person they are looking up to that 'Hey, I think your style rocks.'

I have also said 'imitation is the sincerest form of flattery' when my children get on one another's nerves. You know...the big brother sits around copying everything the little sister is saying... or vice versa? Or a child is copying a teenager's words or actions and it is driving the teenager crazy. This statement is a two-edged sword in this case. If it is the older one 'mocking' the younger one or trying to annoy them by copying what they say, they shut up pretty quickly...after all, they aren't actually trying to flatter the younger child. Not at all, they are trying to annoy the younger child! In the case of the younger imitating the teen, it helps the teen take a deep breath and think...'okay, this little kid thinks I am cool...guess I can live with it.'

But there is another side of imitation that we tend to not think about. That is our child imitating us. How many times have you heard your child say a scathing remark to someone, only to realize they heard it from you? Much like Ralphie in A Christmas Story the child knows where they heard the scathing remark (or bad word or saw the bad habit), but if asked, they might not want to tell.

However to the honest parent, we know. We are looking at the mirror of ourselves. Sometimes that image is flattering and sometimes....well sometimes, it is enough to make us want to hang our heads in shame.

What got me thinking about this is that I often underestimate how my own energy and inclinations can affect others in the house. If I am upbeat, it tends to ripple through the family. If I am snarly, well, guess what, snarly comes back to me. Last week, I was all a bustle. I was up on time, took time for my devotions, exercised, got lots of stuff done here at home...was a whirlwind of activity. And what I saw was my children exercising, reading their bibles, and getting their school work done in a timely manner.

This week...well, this week has been much less energetic and as rats followed the Pied Piper out of town, my children have followed me into my 'not getting much done' mode.

So, when we see our children behaving in ways we wish they wouldn't, it is best to look at ourselves, because in all likelihood, they are just being our living mirror. On the bright side, when they do something that makes us want to beam from ear to ear, we should pat ourselves on the back...because we probably did it first.

I don't watch award shows. I used to when I was a kid. It was neat to see all the stars and to try to figure out who would win. But now I am happy reading the day after report. But this is an award show that I would watch on television...if only it were televised.

If you haven't seen the "I Pledge" Video, take a few moments and watch it now. Go ahead, I'll wait....

I found out about this video when my husband forwarded me an article that expressed concern over the references to 'serving' President Obama and over "Obama worship".

I watched this video and I didn't see it the same way as the author of the article. While I am bothered very much by the fact that these people seem to be pledging their allegiance to a person instead of to their country (remember how that worked out for Germany?), I tend to look at the positive side of things.

I wish that more people had pledged to stand behind President Bush instead of attacking him from Day One, but if people are ready to stand up now and take responsibility and reach out to their fellow human being, I say we should not beat a dead horse, but we should look at this as a great leap forward for a better tomorrow.

Many in this nation have become so wrapped up in their own self-importance, that they forget to look out for their neighbors, their friends, people on the street and even for family. Yet, we see when tragedy strikes (be it a tornado, a flood, or a terrorist attack), these same people pull out all the stops to help those affected. Wouldn't it be amazing if we didn't wait for the disaster to strike, but if instead, we each made it a priority each and every day to do something positive in the life of another human being? Can you even begin to imagine the possiblities!

On Tuesday, the kids and I got our school work done in a timely fashion and gathered about the television to watch the Inauguration of our 44th President. I don't think I have seen an inauguration in years. If I did, it didn't make a lasting impression on me. But I have a friend who impressed upon me how significant it was that we live in a country where the change of power occurs without a shot fired. And of course, there was the special significance of this being the first African American President.

I am glad we watched. I was just about moved to tears when President Bush walked in for the last time to the tune "Hail to the Chief". He had a rough presidency with not anywhere near the support he should have had for the tough decisions he had to make. As he walked in, I couldn't help but imagine that his step was a little bit lighter...his time was done and he could head back to Texas and his ranch and to a life where he was in more in control of his life and din't have the weight of the world on his shoulders.

I felt sorry for President Obama that his swearing in got botched. At first I thought it was nerves (and heaven knows, I would have been nervous), but then to find out that Chief Justice Roberts goofed.... However, I did not find this misstep to deflect from the importance of the moment (though it did remind me of when I graduated from high school and the principal messed up the reading of my name!)

President Obama gave a good speech and exuded confidence and hope. The music that John Williams wrote was awesome! Aretha Franklin had on quite a hat! And the packed mall was an amazing thing to see.

I found it moving when President and First Lady Obama walked President and Mrs. Bush to the helicopter. The commentators made the remark that it seemed the two had grown close in the preceeding weeks as evidenced by the heartfelt hugs that were being passed around.

All in all, it was an hour and a half well spent. It was an excellent reminder of what living in a free country means.

Today at high noon, President Obama steps into history and becomes the 44th President of the United States of America. Not only is this moment historical because of the fact that 1/2 century ago, African Americans were not allowed in 'white' establishments, but it is a moment of hope for our country. A reminder of all that is good in America - the democratic process does work, the people's voice is still heard. It is a testament to the world, that power can change hands, not just from person to person, but from party to party without a shot fired.

I did not vote for Barack Obama. My choice wasn't influenced by his skin color, but by my concern over his lack of experience, the people he surrounded himself with, the message he was taught in church, and my concern over his naivete on how to handle other world leaders. But as the new President of our country, I will do all I can to support him (as long as it doesn't conflict with my moral values and that would be true of any President).

I graduated from the College of William and Mary in 1988. I learned many useful things while in college. But as a Sociology major, one of the most important and lastingly helpful things I learned was to take every poll with a grain of salt.

As this very difficult election season heads towards its culmination, we are bombarded with poll statistics on every side. They mostly say Obama is in the lead, but the lead ranges from tenths of a point to 15 points. The percent of undecided seems to be between 6% and 10%. The thing that worries me about this bombardment of polls is that people are already believing Obama is the winner. They see he is ahead, and that is what they focus on. Then, should the undecided swing the way of McCain, or the votes don't go the way the polls are stating, there will be a cry of foul play! The vote has been fixed! Likewise if Obama were to win by a landslide, the same cries will be raised because of doubts already in place due to voter registration irregularities. Polls are really a detriment to the political process.

For those voters who want to say they voted for the winner, they will simply vote for whoever is in the lead. For those voters who don't want to have to check into the issues, who want someone else to do the hard work for them, they will also vote for whoever is in the lead based on the polls because they believe that person must be the best choice if most of the people are voting for them. I know we don't like to believe that people are so 'weak minded', but there are those that are and polls don't encourage them to gain information on their own.

I am not a party voter. I have voted for Democrats, Republicans and even 'third party' candidates like Ross Perot. The way I roll is to vote for the person that I think will do the best job.

For instance, I am voting for John McCain and Sarah Palin. I don't think Obama has the country's best interests at heart. I think he is naive and is likely to make some very costly mistakes because of it. I would love to have a national health care plan, but that is not enough to make me vote for a man I just don't feel comfortable with having as President.

On the other hand, I had decided to vote for Mark Warner. I didn't want Mark Warner to be governor, but I felt like he did a good job when he was Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia. He brought a lot of business into the state and helped areas of the state that had been hard hit economically as they tried to move from old standbys (like tobacco) into the new century. The last Saturday of September, I was working with Jack and Katrina at a youth fundraiser booth in Bedford for Centerfest. I looked up at a man who stopped by and was shaking hands with people in our booth, then I realized it was Mark Warner! How cool! He said something to me to the effect of 'are you trying to get people to stop by from both sides of the fence?' because I was wearing a McCain sticker and a Warner sticker. I talked with him and the reporters following him and explained that I voted on the person, not the party they were running with. Another gal in my booth said the same thing, though she wasn't voting for Warner.

Today, a gal sent a link to my homeschool email list regarding a political ad. First, that is a no-no on our list because we don't discuss politics or religion on our list. We keep things friendly. But, I know why she sent it. It was of importance to homeschoolers. I saw the title of the link and went to check it out. This video is what I found. As a homeschooler, a person of faith, and the daughter of a NRA member, I am appalled to see what Mark Warner really thinks of me.

Mr. Warner, you have lost my vote. I can only hope the word gets round to the other people like me in the Commonwealth as to what you really think. And Mr. Warner, in case you are at all concerned...I believe the very people that you say are threatening what it means to be an American are indeed the ones that are trying to keep America on the track that used to make it a beloved country around the world. And Mr. Warner, I have many homeschool friends that sit on both sides of the political spectrum. I cannot begin to imagine how they will feel that you have lumped them in with people that they are often opposed to.

Big foot in mouth moment, but thanks for your honesty. I would have hated to have voted for you and found out your opinions when it was too late.

I watched the debate last night. Well, sort of. My dad called and talked to me during the beginning and I was listening but also trying to get caught up on some emails. It's hard to read and listen to something at the same time. But something struck me as I listened...Senator Obama called Senator McCain 'John' many times. I never heard Senator McCain call 'Barack'.

Now maybe I am a bit old school, but a Senator deserves the respect of having his title used. Senator Obama's frequent use of Senator McCain's first name seemed condescending to me.

What do you think?

Two years ago, I signed up for Netflix. DH prefers to own the movies he watches, but there are lots of movies out there that you don't find at the local stores. Plus the whole idea of having movies arrive at my home in my mailbox and being able to choose from thousands of titles was very enticing to me. I have to say, I am enjoying Netflix, even though Daniel refuses to watch any movie with me that I get from there. It goes against his principle...though he will watch movies I borrow from the library, go figure!

Anyway, we have gotten lots of use out of Netflix. The kids and I have found tons of documentaries that we have used in our homeschool studies. I have introduced them to some of my favorite television shows from when I was a kid (Wonder Woman and Star Trek). I have watched movies I have never heard of and shared some Disney classics with them - The Love Bug, The Cat from Outer Space, The Shaggy Dog (the first one) and more. About 6 months ago, I learned about profiles. I set the kids each up a profile and now they go in and pick the movies they want to watch. I get to set the ratings limits. It's awesome. Now when a movie under my profile goes back to Netflix, it picks the next one in line from my profile. If Jack's movie goes back, then he gets sent the next under his profile. This is awesome and a great time saver. I was going in and having to manipulate my list based on whether I had a movie lined up for me or for the kids and manually move things around. I was soooo happy to find the profiles feature.

Whew, that was a long title. Today, I was visiting the Drudge Report. If you have never visited this website, it is a neat place to go to get a variety of headlines from around the world. Anyway, today, Matt Drudge was running these two articles:

Scientists From Around the Globe Join ABC News in a Forum on Surviving the Century

Global Warming and the Price of a Gallon of Gas

The first article is about an upcoming ABC 2 hour special designed to show us what the doomsayers are showing our next 100 years are going to be like.

The second article is a scathing attack on the global warming hysteria and the fact that there are way more scientists saying it is bull, than there are that is saying it is the gospel truth. According to the second article, we are causing a lot of our own problems by jumping onto the global warming band wagon.

Today I was reading an article in Good Housekeeping about a mom whose son was constantly encouraging her to decrease their families carbon footprint. This mom drives a VW bug and keeps her house at a chilly 62 degrees in the winter time. She recycles. She turns off lights when she leaves the room. But when she went to the carbon calculator it informed her that she was using 12 tons more carbon a year than the average family in the United States.

I wanted to get my own number. I have to say, I was surprised. As you know I was gifted with a SUV this year, not exactly friendly to the environment, but it was a most wonderful gift. My number showed that we are only 6 tons over the national average.

Now, my gripe with this little calculator is this....

Dear Ms. Sarandon,

I was recently surfing the web and ran across an article that said:

SUSAN SARANDON, who appeared in three films last year and won kudos for her TV movie "Bernard and Doris," is still not a contented soul. She says if John McCain gets elected, she will move to Italy or Canada. She adds, "It's a critical time, but I have faith in the American people."

OK, American people. You don't want Susan to move out of the country, so it's up to you to elect Barack Obama. What? You thought Susan of all people would be for Hillary Clinton? Well, no. She told John Hiscock: "I thought the whole point of feminism is that you're not supposed to be defined by gender. I don't understand the reasoning behind that, because I wouldn't vote for Condoleezza Rice, and I hated Margaret Thatcher."

I would like to respectfully offer my services to help you move from America. And I would respectfully suggest that you move sooner rather than later. I mean...why wait? If you are unhappy with the way things are here and you have no more belief in America than this, just go. Because quite honestly, you aren't that important and we really don't need you here spouting off how unpatriotic you are.

My husband and I support the fact that our troops are in Afghanistan and Iraq. We feel it is a necessity and as a Marine veteran, Daniel and I both believe that people who join the Armed Forces do it knowing what the potential is for them ending up fighting and making the ultimate sacrifice. It is not an easy thing, but we demean the men and women in the armed services when we talk about how their lives are being wasted.

So Daniel emailed me a link today that contained a video made by a soldier in Afghanistan. We don't often see this kind of thing on the news. They all focus on the horrors, but do not share the triumphs or many stories about how the soldiers feel about what they are doing. I always felt that it was best to get that type of information straight from the horses mouth. Wouldn't it paint a different picture for us if we had more balanced news in front of us?

Miley Cyrus, whose show Hannah Montana is a staple in our household, has found herself in the news again. This time it is for a photo that will be appearing on the cover of the next edition of Vanity Fair. Now, there is nothing that Miley is showing in this photo that we wouldn't see if she were in a bathing suit or backless dress. But at the same time, this is a young lady that children ages 6-16 admire. They want to dress like her, look like her, be her. I have watched her show and I have admired the fact that Billy Ray and his wife, Tish, have been doing a good job of trying to raise Miley to be as down to earth as they can inspite of her stardom.

But, I can't help wonder what everyone was thinking when they allowed Miley to pose this way. As I said, she is not revealing anything, but the suggestiveness of the pose is not something appropriate for a fifteen year old girl, nor or is this appropriate for a young girl who is a role model to millions of children.

I worry about where Miley will go in the future. I don't want to see her follow the paths of so many recent female stars (like Britney Spears). I know we all make mistakes and Miley says this was one and she has learned from it. If so, bravo for her. If this is a publicity stunt or a way to start moving Miley towards a different audience, then shame on them for losing sight of the audience that they already have a responsibility for.