I know I’m basically not much different from anybody else; not terribly special; not too good but not too bad either. But even as I look around and feel as though I look like and act like everybody around me, I still feel like I'm different. Something’s wrong. Something is unusual and I just can’t seem to put a finger on it.
I've felt this way for most of my life. During adolescence I thought I didn't belong; that I was something of an outcast. I had friends. But I didn't belong to, or at least I felt like I didn't belong to the 'group' at least the 'group' to which I wanted to belong.
I learned at the end of high school that being an outsider wasn't necessarily a bad thing. I slowly began to realize that I didn't need to belong to anything. I certainly did not need to belong to anything to which I didn't want to belong or to anything where the members did not want me to belong.
And now it's not so much a matter of belonging to anything, it's more a matter of my perceptions, observations, analyses and choices. Now I like being different.
I well know the importance of a healthy economy. I know its importance to me personally, to my family and to the future of the country. But it seems to me that the (it's not THE LIBERAL, its just THE) press, not to mention numerous and sundry consultants, economists, pundits and 'forecasters' (which may very well be redundant), are exploiting the details of our current crises and consequently, stirring up some sh. . . . . . let us say anxiety.
Case in point (from MSNBC). . .
"The Labor Department reported Friday that the unemployment rate edged up to 8.2 percent, its first increase in 11 months, as American employers fretted over Europe, higher pump prices and the persistent problems in the housing market. . . " It's first increase in 11 months!!! The first ANYTHING doth not constitute a TREND. And there's the "F" word (no not that one), I mean "fretted". Who would know better about "fret" that these guys/girls who cultivate it like Jimmy Carter does peanuts.
". . . Non-farm payrolls rose by 69,000, the lowest increase in a year and well below the 150,000 jobs that economists had expected. . . " Economists EXPECTED. So what? Until they tell my why, how and everything else about why they expected that, why should I fret about what they say?
". . . "It's an awful number. Not only is it awful in its numerical terms, it comes at a very skittish time in the markets because of the European crisis," said Rick Meckler, president of Libertyview Capital Management. . . A number like this brings concern about a global slowdown. The time has probably come to for some new government action in the U.S., Europe and China," . . . " YEAH! Prolly IS, Rick. (Who the hell is THIS GUY? C'mon press. What makes Libertyview special?) Of course Rick is upset!!! And furthermore, ". . . the time has PROBABLY come to(sic) for some NEW GOVERNMENT action in the U.S. . . "???? I do believe Rick may be a Socialist. (Strange line of business for a Socialist.)
". . . The news came after a government report Thursday that showed the U.S. economy expanded at a 1.9 percent annualized rate in the first quarter, below the initial estimate of 2.2 percent and much slower than the 3.0 percent pace clocked in the fourth quarter. . . " 1.9%; 2.2%; 3%??? A fraction of a percent here and a fraction of a percent there and pretty soon we're talking 3.1%!!!!
". . . "Today's weak jobs report is devastating news for American workers and American families," Romney said in a statement shortly after the data was released. . . " Exactly what I expected Romney would say. What else is new?
". . . The Obama administration said that while the jobs data was unacceptable, Congress needed to act to help the economy. "Congress has to take some action because while we see the unemployment rate where it is, it's not acceptable," Solis told CNBC. . . " (Hilda Solis, U.S. Secretary of Labor) Well put Hilda. What does Congress do anyway?
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“Whew!! Mmm, mmm,” I faintly heard from the curb as the car, which came from behind the utility truck in the right lane across the intersection at about forty miles-per-hour, zoomed by me not three feet ahead. “Not a very good case. Outside the crosswalk AND against the light. Not much I can do with this one! Ah, now it’s green. Of course I’m still OUTside the walk but you’re inside. Too many lawyers in Baltimore!”
I said nothing. In spite of coming within twenty-eight inches of my life, all I could do was laugh.
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(from the Associated Press)
Rescue and recovery workers who helped in the aftermath of the Sept.
11 terrorist attacks are planning to gather at the 9/11 memorial this
month to commemorate the 10-year anniversary of the official end of the
cleanup at ground zero.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced the May 30 evening event on Tuesday, and warned spots are limited.
Bloomberg
is the chairman of the 9/11 memorial. He said in a statement the event
will honor the sacrifices made by first responders and recovery workers
whose efforts "were nothing short of heroic."
The event gives
officials the chance to focus on the workers who toiled in the days
after the attacks. Some first responders objected when only the family
members of 9/11 victims were allowed to attend anniversary observances
on Sept. 11, 2011.
----------------------------------------------------
(from http://www.911truth.org/article.php?story=20041221155307646) Top 10 (of the Top 40) Reasons to doubt the official story
1) AWOL Chain of Command - a. It is well documented that the officials topping the chain of command
for response to a domestic attack - George W. Bush, Donald Rumsfeld,
Richard Myers, Montague Winfield - all found reason to do something
else during the actual attacks, other than assuming their duties as
decision-makers.
b. Who was actually in charge? Dick Cheney, Richard Clarke, Norman
Mineta and the 9/11 Commission directly conflict in their accounts of
top-level response to the unfolding events, such that several (or all)
of them must be lying.
2) Air Defense Failures - a. The US air defense system failed to follow standard procedures for responding to diverted passenger flights.
b. Timelines: The various responsible agencies - NORAD, FAA, Pentagon,
USAF, as well as the 9/11 Commission - gave radically different
explanations for the failure (in some cases upheld for years), such that
several officials must have lied; but none were held accountable.
c. Was there an air defense standdown?
3) Pentagon Strike- How was it possible the Pentagon was hit 1 hour and 20 minutes after
the attacks began? Why was there no response from Andrews Air Force
Base, just 10 miles away and home to Air National Guard units charged
with defending the skies above the nation''s capital? How did Hani
Hanjour, a man who failed as a Cessna pilot on his first flight in a
Boeing, execute a difficult aerobatic maneuver to strike the Pentagon?
Why did the attack strike the just-renovated side, which was largely
empty and opposite from the high command?
4) Wargames - a. US military and other authorities planned or actually rehearsed
defensive response to all elements of the 9/11 scenario during the year
prior to the attack - including multiple hijackings, suicide
crashbombings, and a strike on the Pentagon.
b.
The multiple military wargames planned long in advance and held on the
morning of September 11th included scenarios of a domestic air crisis, a
plane crashing into a government building, and a large-scale emergency
in New York. If this was only an incredible series of coincidences, why
did the official investigations avoid the issue? There is evidence that
the wargames created confusion as to whether the unfolding events were
"real world or exercise." Did wargames serve as the cover for air
defense sabotage, and/or the execution of an "inside job"?
5) Flight 93 - Did the Shanksville crash occur at 10:06 (according to a seismic
report) or 10:03 (according to the 9/11 Commission)? Does the
Commission wish to hide what happened in the last three minutes of the
flight, and if so, why? Was Flight 93 shot down, as indicated by the
scattering of debris over a trail of several miles
6) Smoking Gun - Did cell phones work at 30,000 feet in 2001? How many hijackings were attempted? How many flights were diverted?
7) Demolition Hypothesis- What caused the collapse of a third skyscraper, WTC 7, which was not
hit by a plane? Were the Twin Towers and WTC 7 brought down by
explosives? (See "The Case for Demolitions," the websites wtc7.net and 911research.wtc7.net, and the influential article by physicist Steven Jones.
8) What did officials know? How did they know it? - a. Multiple allied foreign agencies informed the US government of a
coming attack in detail, including the manner and likely targets of the
attack, the name of the operation (the "Big Wedding"), and the names of
certain men later identified as being among the perpetrators.
b. Various individuals came into possession of specific advance
knowledge, and some of them tried to warn the US prior to September
11th.
c.
Certain prominent persons received warnings not to fly on the week or on the day of September 11th.
9) Able Danger, Plus - Surveillance of Alleged Hijackers - a. The men identified as the 9/11 ringleaders were under
surveillance for years beforehand, on the suspicion they were
terrorists, by a variety of US and allied authorities - including the
CIA, the US military''s "Able Danger" program, the German authorities,
Israeli intelligence and others.
b.
Two of the alleged ringleaders who were known to be under surveillance
by the CIA also lived with an FBI asset in San Diego, but this is
supposed to be yet another coincidence.
10) Obstruction of FBI Investigations prior to 9/11 - A group of FBI officials in New York systematically suppressed field
investigations of potential terrorists that might have uncovered the
alleged hijackers - as the Moussaoui case once again showed. The stories
of Sibel Edmonds, Robert Wright, Coleen Rowley and Harry Samit, the
"Phoenix Memo," David Schippers, the 199i orders restricting
investigations, the Bush administration''s order to back off the Bin
Ladin family, the reaction to the "Bojinka" plot, and John O''Neil do
not, when considered in sum, indicate mere incompetence, but high-level
corruption and protection of criminal networks, including the network
of the alleged 9/11 conspirators. (Nearly all of these examples were
omitted from or relegated to fleeting footnotes in The 9/11 Commission Report.)
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NPR is doing a series on THE AMERICAN DREAM. Generally speaking, I like NPR. Although nothing is ever ultimately perfect, and who can say what is objectively perfect since we are all subjective human animals and one man's (or woman's) idea of perfection will always be different from anothers'.
The series began Tuesday morning with some relatively blue-collar guys in the Midwest speaking about how the AMERICAN DREAM is much harder to attain these days. I don't say 'blue-collar' condescendingly or dismissively either because, quite frankly, I know from blue-collar. Where I grew up, guys in high school (overwhelmingly, if not exclusively) strove to secure a job at either Bethlehem Steel's Sparrows Point steel mill or at General Motors Assembly plant, where (by the way) my own father was employed for thirty years before his retirement.
So as long as people bought cars and steel was in demand (by 'whomever buys steel,' as I would have said when I was in high school) things were good. If I was lucky enough to secure a position with either of these two industrial giants, I was guaranteed a healthy income, superior benefits and what was considered by me and my peers to be 'job security'.
But when your maximum level of education attained is H.S. Diploma, and you're not a particularly aggressive self-learner, you may not fully understand supply, demand, costs, revenue, taxes, economics, competition etc etc, blah blah. And when there are no longer tens of thousands of jobs in your neighborhood, you feel you've been cheated and your AMERICAN DREAM has turned into a nightmare.
I well understand how that feels BUT, (speaking of perfect) this world, this species, this country, business (etc etc, blah blah) are NOT perfect. And furthermore, things change. Things begin, things end, and always, always, always - things change.
Guess all I'm saying is, maybe a little information; maybe a little more education; maybe a better education (Santorum Shuddered!!) would help these folks have a better understanding of what's going on.
And I am in no way bad-mouthing this country because I most certainly love the life I am able to lead in America and know many non-natives who having experienced it, and would prefer it to living in the places from which they came.
But I am saying that I think people should be more aware of. . . EVERYTHING they can! So an AMERICAN DREAM without a bevy of facts, awareness, some hard work and a heap of realism, the AMERICAN DREAM is just a dream. And we all know that every dream ends and then we must wake up.
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". . . If it is in the Bible, it must be true. . ."
(from Howard Bess)
". . . In the past this attitude has led to advocacy of slavery, segregation, subordination of women and corporal punishment for children. It has been only when these Biblical teachings were challenged and set aside that justice has prevailed. The latest challenge to Bible standards is the current debate about Biblical marriage and same-sex marriages. The Bible standard advocates are calling for Biblical standards for marriage.
Many of the relevant passages are found in the book of Leviticus. The place of women is set out as a part of the property codes. Women were property. Men were owners of women. A man could own as many women as he could afford. Polygamy was the standard, not monogamy. Men owned women in three categories. They owned wives; they owned concubines; and they owned slaves. All were available to their owner for his sexual use. Most of the women involved were little more than breeding stock. These standards were prevalent all over the Middle East and reflect Mesopotamian and Babylonian traditions.
Over the centuries, custom changed and, while polygamy was allowed and was common, cultural pressures and standards evolved toward monogamy. One standard did not change. Women in Jesus’ day were still seen as property. Marriages were still arranged. A woman had no voice in the acquiring of a husband. A young woman was provided for marriage for what was deemed the best interests of the father.
During the times of Jesus, the life of many women in a poverty economy was precarious. A man could divorce a woman by declaring his freedom from her. The worst scenario for a woman was to have no owner. The so-called prostitutes that hung around Jesus were not prostitutes in a modern sense. They were vulnerable women who had no owner. Evidently Jesus accepted them and provided them with a level of protection and security. One of the criticisms of Jesus was that he associated with prostitutes.
To his credit, the Apostle Paul declared that in Christ there was no longer slave or free, male or female. In spite of the acceptance by Jesus and the declaration of Paul, the early church embraced and perpetuated patriarchal dominance and female submission. The Leviticus standard of male ownership of wives continued in most of Christianity until the 20th century. It now seems incredible that women in the United States did not have a vote until the 19th Amendment was adopted in 1920.
I scratch my head when I hear someone declare that we need to return to Biblical standards for marriage.
Around the world and within the United States the understandings of marriage and marriage practices are hugely diverse. In that diversity a new question has been inserted in the public discussion. Should two persons of the same sex be allowed to marry? It is a subject that is never addressed in the Bible. It is a modern question that has evolved over the past 50 years. The Bible is a collection of ancient writings. I would not expect any of these writings to address a question that is so recent. Bible quotations seem so very irrelevant. . . "
". . . Is there no standard for marriage that can be embraced in our modern world? I suspect that diversity of understandings will win the day. The need to formalize the attractions that we have for a loving companion will not go away. . ."
[The Rev. Howard Bess is a retired American Baptist minister, who lives in Palmer, Alaska. His email address is HYPERLINK "mailto:hdbss@mtaonline.net" hdbss@mtaonline.net]
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