make up our minds

HONORING HER MEMORY

Christina Taylor Green (9/11/2001 - 1/8/2011)

"I just want her memory to live on, she's a face of hope, a face of change," she said. "Stop the violence, stop the hatred." Mother quote

A life bracketed by two national tragedies: born on the day (9/11/2001) of the bombing of the Twin Towers in New York; died on the day (1/8/2011) of the tragic shootings in Tucson, Arizona.

All of us - we should do everything we can to make sure this country lives up to our children's expectations. Obama quote

Obama Arizona Speech: 'I Want America To Be As Good As She Imagined It'

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Abe Lincoln once said, "We're as happy as we make up our minds to be."

Infinity and Back

Infinity and Back is the answer...2 the question: how long can Little Man listen 2 a child say, "i love you, Daddy".

4 tiny words carry with-in them a force 2 change the World. Little Man is transformed into a capped crusader 4 all those things that R given 'lip service' everywhere, all the time.

Justice 4 All...Equal Opportunity: 2 achieve greatness ... 2 realize dreams...2 attempt...2 fail...2 B heard...2 B transformed...2 live without fear...2 trust

Especially, 4 children: 2 LIVE WITHOUT KNOWING: HUNGER, WAR, ABUSE, FEAR, DEATH

"i love you, Daddy" transcends language, time and space, relationship and gender.

It speaks of a promise, unspoken.

Of a boundless faith...of peace, of love, of pardon, of hope, of light...

of JOY

Little Man heard it LOUD, CLEAR & with-out conditions from too many to mention all...however i gladly and thankfully and bless fully, acknowledge: malina, p. francois, cole, sara, paulz, ericak, lynnz, tomlonewolf, phyls, joez, and all thoz w/out names.

PARENTING IN AMERICA---INCREASING THE ODDS

Worry over what is wrong with our kids is becoming a serious concern which cuts across ethnicities, age and income cohorts, and rural, suburban and urban classifications.

Be it, teenage, unwed mothers, heroin over-dose cases in affluent enclaves, random acts of unmanageably atrophies, or sky-rocketing rates of young adult suicides, the signs of the total collapse of family and community are everywhere.

Certainly, there is no shortage of remedies in the market place.

Take pills, eat healthy, exercise, live in a tree house, love your parents/hate your parents, go away to boarding school, be home schooled or get over it.

Child development experts, from Dr. Spock, to Dr. Brazelton and, now, Dr Phil have been more than ready to say what a normal child could be, if only, they were “appropriately” nurtured.


Even with our own children to learn from, our knowledge and perception of children has come, in no small part large part, from, surprise, TV!

A long line of “kid” shows have addressed themselves primarily to children. Beginning in the early fifties and with the growing access to in-home TV, popular kid shows featured “real” children. A fore-runner of the current rash of “Reality TV” shows, these shows would typically have a re-occurring group of kids chosen to represent real kids.

From Art Linkletter‘s kids who say the funniest (darnest? things“, to Mr. Rogers’ serene neighborhood; to learning with Big Bird & Barney; to having fun with Bill Cosby’s’ hey, hey, hey.

The kids on these shows were chosen for the talent and were given clever lines to deliver. Thus, our idealized children were bright, happy, knowing, loving and virtuous. As audiences grew up, new real families appeared: Ed McMurray in Father knows Best; Leave it to Beaver; The Donna Reed Show ; Ozzie & Harriet Nelson with sons, David and Ricky.

Ozzie Nelson took his show to the logical next step.

They acted like themselves would if they could.

(Ricky Nelson…good looking; rock star; women, both young and not so young, love him. This is the real Ricky, not the TV one. Marries the beautiful daughter of a foot-ball legend. Had three lovely children.)

“Heck, in my neighborhood, I was Ricky Nelson.”

But what about the real reality.

If the children you know are bright, happy, knowing, loving and virtuous, you bear witness to a miracle that should be treated as such. If you don’t know many kids that exhibit most of these positive traits, shouldn’t you wonder why.

A disconnect occurs when we try to reconcile this “model” child with all the real children that we know. A source of the disconnect is how few of our children are “appropriately” nurtured. While the details of “appropriately” would undoubtedly be debated, I believe a consensus exists for the broad elements of such nurturing.

The elements would include: safety, consistency, respect, affection, positive reinforcement, caring inter-action, play, talking, reading and holding. The providers of this nurturing can
be anyone who can “genuinely” offer such nurturing. The sad and troubling reality is that there are vastly fewer providers of “genuine” nurturing then there are children to be nurtured.

Little mention will be made of the obvious outcomes resulting so often from the absence of nurturing parenting. Generations of single moms (both young and those not so young), school drop-outs, bullies, and, in too many instances, non-feeling, loners that do monstrous deeds.

Far too few in our society ever develop an understanding of their own self -worth and therefore are unable to imbue others with it. Lacking a sense of something (anything) having value, it easily is concluded that all things (including lives) are value-less. And value-less things need no consideration, or compassion or other human emotion.

My focus, instead is on this question: “if parenting (or it’s absence) is so powerful in determining who we become, why do we leave it to chance.?”

One would expect that we would forget about everything else and concentrate our full attention on improving the chances (e.g. “increasing the odds”) that we end up with individuals who understand and respect the notion that all of our individual actions, good/and bad ones, come with some consequence attached like a shadow.

And, alas, that the individual gives a damn about that consequence.

i gave U

“Americans helping Americans”
Wake up America. It is time for “Americans helping Americans”.
The wheelers and dealers, the sleek and the slippery, the punks and the cheats, the Wall Street chattering class, all have one thing in common. They think they are smarter than you by half. And they believe they can trick you into doing anything they wish. And, they think if they say something often enough, no matter how untrue, that you will come to believe it.
America, say it loud and say it clear. Not this time, Wall Street. Not this time.
In America, we get to have our say, too. It’s your choice America. Do you want to save Wall Street? Or, do you want to save Main Street?
The House and Senate should not be stampeded into creating a Relief Agency for Wall Street. They would be way ahead financially and politically and have the additional bonus of doing what is right for the country by instead bailing-out American home-owners.

The real problems of our economy are all intertwined with the housing crisis; the solutions to the crisis are to be found there as well. Below, I lay out a plan that is fair, simple and cheaper than anything being proposed by the experts.

The basic plan:

(1.) The primary resident of each American will be declared paid-in-full on October 1st.

The immediate consequence will be a major up-tic in consumer spending as we enter the holiday season. Consumer spending accounts for 2/3 of GDP and will stimulate economic activity throughout the economy.

The existing lack of household liquidity has had insidious effects throughout the housing sector. A monthly wind-fall resulting from removing mortgage payments from the family budget will be the fuel necessary to re-energize the entire sector.

(2.) Non-home owning citizens will be provided with a voucher to be used toward the purchase of a home for which they are qualified. It will provide a 5% payment toward the qualified purchase price.

Providing immediate liquidity to families across America will do more good, more quickly and more fairly than anything now being considered.

Call it, “Americans helping Americans”.

It has been nearly a decade since a Republican Congress and a Democratic President decided that those with lots of money should not have their wheeling’s and dealing’s regulated like the rest of us.
The purpose of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act -- co-authored by Gramm, passed in 1999 by a Republican-controlled Congress and signed by President Bill Clinton -- was to liberate the banks, stockbrokers and insurance companies from restraints imposed on their activities more than seven decades ago.
Now, those same folks want the rest of us to be left holding the empty bag. A simple, short and straight forward response to that idea is “forget about it”.
Come on America…speak up for yourselves, your families and your neighbors.
Call your elected officials now; by Monday it could be too late.
Just say, you support “Americans helping America”.
And, God Bless America






A year ago, the U.S. Supreme Court's October 2009 Term featured not only the Court's blockbuster ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, but also a success rate for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce reaching 81% (or 13 wins in 16 cases) (PDF).

This focused a national spotlight on the Court's business rulings under Chief Justice John Roberts. The Court's just-concluded October 2010 Term featured even more cases of considerable importance to business interests, and may ultimately prove just as momentous.
this Term including Wal-Mart v. Dukes, AT&T v. Concepcion, and PLIVA v. Mensing, the Court has made it increasingly difficult for Americans to hold corporations accountable for serious misconduct, including widespread discrimination and fraud.

When U took my key, did you understand it was the only 1 i had...




Remember the teeter-tot we sat on together with OUR CHILDREN that late mornin'.
U and Cole, snuggled together as 1 slid mid-way on your side of the totter...freeze frame...me at the very end of mine gaining no weigh from tiny Sara that i can surround with my free hand. "Move forward just a little more Elisabeth (i wonder if she hears my prayer)...that's it.." i say aloud as we become airborne on this magic carpet just west of our destiny that Nevada morning, July 5, 1975.

i hear Joan Baez singin/sayin (in Diamonds n Rust)"...i could have died right then and there ...as all around me there R explosions and FIRE...i beg to the sky...PLEASE somebody help me...and then it was QUIET.

Little remains tangible from that July 5th day. Court documents documenting what can NOT be documented in only three dimensions. And some soundless footage from home movies i made..poorly. Photographs that have long been searched for only clues; givin' up hope 4 answers.

ONE FOOT-NOTE: Joan Baez wrote Diamonds and Rust in 1975...whether on July 5th is unknown.

And now with a tenacity and stubbornness that give new meaning to the bull-pigheadedness of an aging Taurus, I cling to my Memories...even those that
provoke more questions than answers. So, i repeat:

When U took my key, did you understand it was the only 1 i had...

I have searched 4 this 1 photo 4 33 yrs...i lost my young wife and 2 small children in a fiery crash involving a run away semi and R parked Volkswagen bus ...i also was inside the bus with my family ... after the smoke lifted and the explosions stopped ...only i remained earth bound... then was July 5, 1975.....now this...i know about God's penchant 4 miracles ... but this BLESSING truly makes me feel like I AM FORGIVEN AND HEALED.... God is ALL...

Music has provided the backdrop to major life-altering events as well as providing a source of comfort and renewals to individuals. Music has been from the beginning.
It is a constant and ever-changing. In America, we have Native American, Cajun, Country, Classical, and many others.

I was introduced to dance music by my Mom,circa 1950

. The Big Band sound was her 1st choice. TV had the Lucky Strike Parade of hits, the radio was introducing different
sounds and artists. It is an immeasurable part of my life.