With medical advances in the last several years, it's reported that cancer is taking fewer and fewer victims all the time. That's a very good thing! It's taken a lot of research and billions of dollars to accomplish. My father died from cancer as well as several other people I knew.
On a weekly basis one or more of my friends on Facebook will post something about hating cancer, and the loved ones they've lost. Occasionally, I'll repost what they've posted, because they often ask you to, and I don't want to hurt their feelings by not doing so.
Last night, I watched a film titled "War Horse", which although it was pretty predictable, was still good. In watching I tapped into how much I hate war, especially the killing of innocent people. Not sure why it infuriates me so, but it absolutely does!
It's hard for me to "hate" cancer. It's a part of the nature of being human. We are prone to disease, and when we get sick, we do what we can to get well again. But what about war? It's an extremely UN-natural thing for humans to build and possess weapons that will take the lives of others. I'm 100% convinced of this. Yet, we do little to prevent war. We do even less to end war. And I'm STILL waiting to see a post on Facebook that says; "I HATE WAR!! If you do too, please repost for 1 hour on your timeline. I know some of my friends will do this".
Saturday, December 29, 2012
Monday, December 17, 2012
Children
There is so much talk about the children who were murdered in Newtown Connecticut these days. It only seems fitting that I should write about it on my blog. After all, I also have strong feelings about children AND gun control.
It amazes me that so many Americans are outraged about these 20 kids, but have little to no compassion for children in other parts of the world. I tend to believe that once again people are consumed by the idea of American exceptionalism. So consumed, that it's caused many to become blinded to the issues that face the rest of the world.
According to UNICEF http://www.unicef.org/mdg/childmortality.html, over 29,000 kids die daily throughout the world. In part they say;
"More than 70 per cent of almost 11 million child deaths every year are attributable to six causes: diarrhoea, malaria, neonatal infection, pneumonia, preterm delivery, or lack of oxygen at birth.
These deaths occur mainly in the developing world. An Ethiopian child is 30 times more likely to die by his or her fifth birthday than a child in Western Europe. Among deaths in children, South-central Asia has the highest number of neonatal deaths, while sub-Saharan Africa has the highest rates. Two-thirds of deaths occur in just 10 countries.
And the majority are preventable. Some of the deaths occur from illnesses like measles, malaria or tetanus. Others result indirectly from marginalization, conflict and HIV/AIDS. Malnutrition and the lack of safe water and sanitation contribute to half of all these children’s deaths.
But disease isn’t inevitable, nor do children with these diseases need to die."
It's not clear how many children die from fire arms, but I'm certain that number is high too. With that information before someone, how could they possibly see what happened last week as a major tragedy? Is it because these children were mainly white Americans from upperclass neighborhoods, while the children who die from what UNICEF has identified are from mostly 3rd world countries?
It amazes me that so many Americans are outraged about these 20 kids, but have little to no compassion for children in other parts of the world. I tend to believe that once again people are consumed by the idea of American exceptionalism. So consumed, that it's caused many to become blinded to the issues that face the rest of the world.
According to UNICEF http://www.unicef.org/mdg/childmortality.html, over 29,000 kids die daily throughout the world. In part they say;
"More than 70 per cent of almost 11 million child deaths every year are attributable to six causes: diarrhoea, malaria, neonatal infection, pneumonia, preterm delivery, or lack of oxygen at birth.
These deaths occur mainly in the developing world. An Ethiopian child is 30 times more likely to die by his or her fifth birthday than a child in Western Europe. Among deaths in children, South-central Asia has the highest number of neonatal deaths, while sub-Saharan Africa has the highest rates. Two-thirds of deaths occur in just 10 countries.
And the majority are preventable. Some of the deaths occur from illnesses like measles, malaria or tetanus. Others result indirectly from marginalization, conflict and HIV/AIDS. Malnutrition and the lack of safe water and sanitation contribute to half of all these children’s deaths.
But disease isn’t inevitable, nor do children with these diseases need to die."
It's not clear how many children die from fire arms, but I'm certain that number is high too. With that information before someone, how could they possibly see what happened last week as a major tragedy? Is it because these children were mainly white Americans from upperclass neighborhoods, while the children who die from what UNICEF has identified are from mostly 3rd world countries?
Monday, December 10, 2012
I'm Too Old For Christmas (sung to the tune of "I'll Be Home for Christmas")
I’m too old for Christmas
It’s just too damned hard
Setting up the Christmas tree
And lights out in the yard
Christmas eve will find me
Laid out on the floor
I’m too old for Christmas
Can’t do it any more
I’m too old for Christmas
I’m not Santa Claus
All my kids are grown ups now
They come around just because
I’m too old for Christmas
Though I still believe
I’m too old for Christmas
So wake me New Year’s Eve.
Thursday, December 06, 2012
Say It REALLY Loud!
Somehow, unbeknownst to me, I've become inacstrictably tied to a woman named Julie Something or other on my blog. If you happen to run into her from here,( I swear I'm not a conservative republican in case you were wondering).
It's kind of like we write opposite opinions on EVERY THING! Pretty strange, if you ask me. I have some friends who are conservatives. Never fails that they have no qualms about making fools of themselves with their obvious lack of education coupled with their willingness to expose it in writing.
I actually love those people! They demonstrate all I've been talking about for the past 10 years. Thank you. You know who you are.
It's kind of like we write opposite opinions on EVERY THING! Pretty strange, if you ask me. I have some friends who are conservatives. Never fails that they have no qualms about making fools of themselves with their obvious lack of education coupled with their willingness to expose it in writing.
I actually love those people! They demonstrate all I've been talking about for the past 10 years. Thank you. You know who you are.
Saturday, December 01, 2012
Almost Unanimous
There's just no denying it. Life is changing here in the United States, and across the whole world. With technology leading the way, it would be impossible to ignore the facts. Why then do we insist in hanging on to the old ways, that no longer fit? It doesn't make sense to me.
Government has traditionally made decisions on what's best for us. What a ridiculous notion in 2012. Used to be that people were too ignorant to figure out what's important to them beyond survival. We rely on a two party system to call the shots in our country. Is that really the best we can do? They make no apologies for their actions behind preserving the status quo of pleasing the rich in hopes that will trickle down to THEM. We seem to go along with them as they cut OUR throats. If that's not insanity, I don't know what is.
What if a legitimate third party would emerge to challenge their insanity? Why do we resist this idea? It's a FACT that the demographics in the US are not anything like what they used to be. The last Presidential election bares me out. Hispanics, blacks, and women primarily won the election for Obama. That's NEVER happened before! We need politicians who match up with what WE THE PEOPLE (remember that?) want to see in our country. Not these OLD stuffed shirts currently running the show. NEW BLOOD!
The bottom line is that 98% of us are unhappy (if not suffering) with the state of the nation. That being the case, it only makes sense for US to simply say "No more". WE could get this country moving in the right direction for ALL of us. Not just a chosen few.
Government has traditionally made decisions on what's best for us. What a ridiculous notion in 2012. Used to be that people were too ignorant to figure out what's important to them beyond survival. We rely on a two party system to call the shots in our country. Is that really the best we can do? They make no apologies for their actions behind preserving the status quo of pleasing the rich in hopes that will trickle down to THEM. We seem to go along with them as they cut OUR throats. If that's not insanity, I don't know what is.
What if a legitimate third party would emerge to challenge their insanity? Why do we resist this idea? It's a FACT that the demographics in the US are not anything like what they used to be. The last Presidential election bares me out. Hispanics, blacks, and women primarily won the election for Obama. That's NEVER happened before! We need politicians who match up with what WE THE PEOPLE (remember that?) want to see in our country. Not these OLD stuffed shirts currently running the show. NEW BLOOD!
The bottom line is that 98% of us are unhappy (if not suffering) with the state of the nation. That being the case, it only makes sense for US to simply say "No more". WE could get this country moving in the right direction for ALL of us. Not just a chosen few.
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