Happy Holidays!

I think it's a little bit ridiculous that people get so bent out of shape by the "Happy Holiday-zation" of Christmas. The Christmas season in our culture begins the day after Halloween and goes through New Year's Day. That includes several holidays. I don't think it's rude to wish somebody Happy Holidays. What I do think is a bit ridiculous, is trying to take items for specific holidays, such as Christmas, and renaming them "Holiday" fill-in-the-blank. It's a Christmas tree, not a Holiday tree. By renaming it a holiday tree, I don't think Jewish people are going to now rush out to buy one for Chanukah. Think of it the other way around. What if we insisted on renaming a Menorah a "Holiday candle holder", so that Christians and Muslims and Jews alike can enjoy it. It's stupid.

So, here's how I look at it: In speaking to people, unless you know for sure what they celebrate, stick with "Happy Holidays". In naming objects, call it what it really is. Christmas tree, Christmas ham, Menorah, Kinara, etc.

And I think people who get upset that they aren't having Christmas shoved down their throats 24/7, should think of the fact that they most likely get a paid Christmas break from work, as well as possibly time off for Easter, and Thanksgiving, when people of other faiths must use vacation time if they want their holidays off. So, maybe, fair is fair??

Helping the Homeless

I've talked with people lately about Nickelsville and the homeless and whether we should support them or not. A lot of times I hear this, "Well it's ok for the people who are there because they can't help it, the economy or whatever, they totally deserve to be helped. But, there are so many people out there who choose to live like this." So, I guess it's ok if you're homeless because you can't help it, then it's ok to pity you and help you, but if you're just lazy or a drunk or whatever I'll judge you to be, you can just sit on the curb and freeze and starve. I'm not sure how I feel about this. I mean I get that logic in one sense, some people do "choose" to live a homeless lifestyle. But not all of them. So how do we pick and choose which people to help and which ones to tell to bugger off? I dunno, but I think you can't go wrong with helping everybody. If that makes me a naive chump, then so be it.

Snow!!

As we are dealing with the start of "Snowpocalypse 2010", I hear a lot of people complaining about the mayor and how everything is his fault. I can't help but come up with a list of things that significantly impacted this storm, that the mayor had nothing to do with. They include:

*Not listening to the warnings a week in advance and putting snow tires on your car, and carrying chains in your trunk.

*Driving your car too fast in the snow.

*Hitting the breaks too quickly in the snow and not giving yourself enough space from the car in front of you.

*Leaving your car in the middle of the freeway.

*Insisting on driving to work when everybody in the local media is urging people to take the bus.

I'm sure there are actually many more things that people are doing that aren't due to the mayor...

Grandpa Del

To my Grandpa Del,

I never knew you, but I would have loved to. I wish you could have told me about your war days in the Pacific. I wish I could have heard your voice. I wish I could have felt you hug me. I miss having you in my life. It's not fair that you were taken before I had a chance to know you, but that's the way it is. Tomorrow is Veteran's Day, and I will be thinking of you. Thank you for the sacrifices you made for this country, your family, and me. Even though you returned alive, you did not return untouched by war. All who fight are changed, and yet you went anyway. Thank you and I love you.

-Your granddaughter Summer

Capitalism in America, is it really Working?

This week I had a moment of realization that our nation's economy is built up, and dependent on the concept of people spending beyond their means. Getting loans from financial institution that they are now having to walk away from because the economy is so bad. Now that the economy is stalled, people are getting their acts together and beginning to live within their means. But that also means they're not out getting loans to stimulate the economy. So the economy remains as bad as ever. What will eventually happen is people's confidence will grow, and then they'll get the loans and go about living beyond their means again. And thus the cycle will begin again. Are these occasional crashes and restarts just a part of the Capitalism life-cycle? Is it the price we must pay to live the way we do? And what is the alternative? What happens if people everywhere continued to live within their means. To make do with less? What happens to capitalism and the American way of life then? Can it evolve beyond it? Can it even survive? Or is this just a horrible mess we're forced to continue to live in forever and ever amen?

Proud of Myself

I'm not the best when it comes to confrontations in life, whether in person or on-line, but I posted a link on FB the other day that one of my conservative friends responded to. The video was regarding the Tea Party and the upcoming election. This person talked about how much better life was "back then" when there was still prayer and the Bible in school and how it is so much worse now. I just couldn't let that go without a response. This is what I came up with. It's a bit long, but I feel it is polite and still conveys what I really think about such things. I'll put it here exactly as I wrote it, just remember this was a response.

"Well, I'm gonna have to respectfully disagree with you on the praying and Bible in school makes the country better argument. I don't think it's fair to force people who aren't Christian to read the Bible or pray to a God they don't believe in in a public school setting. I don't think it would act to unite people, but would divide them further and only create more anger and resentment against Christians in this country if they tried to foist themselves on everybody. If a person wants to pray in school, they are welcome to. I used to bless my food before lunch or pray before a test and I kept it to myself and God and I feel I turned out just fine.

I also must respectfully disagree on the idea that the country was a better place back then. I don't know what era "back then" was, but I think of times when there was still segregation and women were expected to stay at home and raise children only and I cannot think of those as better times than the ones we live in now. How can a group of people who claim to want to enjoy the freedoms we have in this country want to then foist their ideals on others and cause those people to enjoy their freedoms less? It isn't fair. Most liberal people I know don't want to force conservatives to not live their lives the way they want to, they just want the freedom to live their lives too. I just don't see how that's so horrible. Taking away freedoms and rights won't make people Christians. It'll make them hate Christians."

My Thoughts on Demons

I was watching one of those ghost hunting shows late last night and they were in a place known for having demons. Like they had footage of a guy who was possessed and another guy exorcising him. And then the ghost hunter guy started feeling a bit demonish during the show and they stopped filming and apparently exorcised him too. Now, I don't know how much I actually believe that this really happens. Pictures, footage, tv shows, movies, those are all easily "doctorable". Stories, myths, legends, might be just that, things to scare ourselves into good behavior or keep our kids in line.

I have to think that if demons truly exist, like really they are minions of Satan or whatever, they aren't gonna possess one random guy. What does that accomplish? Not much, I say. He'd just get locked up in the mental ward, or wander the streets as just one among many homeless people. I think, more likely, it was a way of explaining mental illness in a time when there was no science to explain it.

I think if a demon was truly going to do its thing, it would infect minds, not take over people. It's going to take over people who can influence other people. A demon wants to make a difference in the world, right? A horrible difference, but a difference nonetheless. I think people who are already predisposed towards hate are what a demon would utilize. Think of the Rev. Fred Phelps and his followers. So irrational in their hatred, yet they get their name and beliefs out there. And it's said that the Devil can quote scripture too, so who's to say people like that aren't being influenced by a little more than irrational hatred? Think of somebody like Hitler? So out there, and so powerful. Or groups like the KKK. Who knows...But I think it just goes to show that people need to have and keep love in their hearts, and make that the guiding force in their lives. Because if you hate, you will use it, and if you love, you will use it too.