150 Years Ago

One hundred and fifty years ago the War Between the States started at Fort Sumter, South Carolina. It was one of the bloodiest wars ever fought. It was fought to protect a way of life: but the way of life was Northern and industrial, or Southern and agricultural, and based on slave labor to bolster the economy.

When I met Lisenby, I was a Catholic and a Northerner. Granny Merriman still talked about the War of Northern Aggression as if it had happened last year.

I had no idea how emotional people in the South were about the war.  The pain and anguish lived on.  I had not seen anything like it in the North.

This is a sad part of our history.  But it did not end there. And it did not start there.  Slavery was part of this country at its founding, and was a blight on our country then.  Racism was a blight on our country for another 100 plus years and is still a blight, subtly, on this country.

But, we did the right thing. The cost, the time, the pain to accomplish what is right is untold.  I am sorry my country was founded on such inhumanity, and not just to the Negro Slave, but to the First Americans, and repeatedly, at times to others who are different: Japanese, Germans, Muslims.

150 years ago, this country engaged in a war to affirm the rights of all humanity.  It was the right thing to do.  It is unconscionable that so many died.  War is hell.

Remember to Vote Early

Remember to vote early.  In the State of Texas, in 2010 voting early is easy. http://www.sos.state.tx.us/elections/pamphlets/earlyvote.shtml  It is so amazingly easy, voting early in Texas includes "curbside voting."  Wow!

Voting early in Texas is not related to absentee balloting, which is still a part of the voting early option. Voting early may involve someone who is going to be absent during election time, someone who is elderly, disabled, in the Armed Services, or otherwise confined but eligible to vote.

There are lots of options, exceptions and aids to allow for voting.  Isn't this wonderful! 

What are the advantages of voting early: 

Many sights have early and late hours, including weekend hours, so voting can be accomplished around work/school schedules.

Many voting early sights are convenient: where you shop, go to school, go to church, or conduct government business.

County wide voting early means you can find a voting sight convenient for you, the voter, not necessarily the designated sight for your precinct, which, because of voting times on election day, may not actually be convenient for the voter.

If the voter will be otherwise unavailable on election day, voting early allows this civic duty to be accomplished.

Early voting, by reporting interest, can influence people to turn out.



However, voting early can be problematic:

Early voting requires the voter to make a decision before all the campaign information is in... Sometimes, there are last minute campaign activities that can reverse voters' decisions.

Early voting, by reporting interest and numbers, make voters assume that their one vote will not count nor influence an election.

Voting was not always an option for all the citizens of this country.  http://www.crmvet.org/info/votehist.htm

Texas has it's own timeline regarding voting:
http://www.google.com/search?q=The+history+of+voting+in+Texas&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-Address&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&sourceid=ie7&rlz=1I7ADBF#q=The+history+of+voting+in+Texas&hl=en&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-Address&rlz=1I7ADBF&prmd=iv&tbs=tl:1&tbo=u&ei=q0bGTNL0LIG8lQfGhYWaAg&sa=X&oi=timeline_result&ct=title&resnum=11&ved=0CEwQ5wIwCg&fp=966e4c99a803535a

The point is, voting access has changed, and citizens are encouraged to get out and vote!

A Sickening Sensation

We had a gathering at work today, and the talk turned to the various ways our country shows support for the military. And there are many, personal, and corporate...It is amazing and touching.  It made my heart swell.  And it makes me proud to be an American!

Talk then turned to the difference between the way it is now, and how very different it was during the Vietnam War Era.  We talked about the civil rights climate, the political climate, the way minorities were funneled into the military, the way rank vs. soldiers were treated and behaved.
We also talked about how the returning soldiers were not supported or respected.

I am typing this now quite calmly, but as we discussed these things, I had a visceral reaction that included a churning stomach and weakness in my knees... The physical symptoms persisted for several hours, including an upset stomach for quite some time.

It was amazing to me that the younger members of our group did not have a sense of the political and emotional climate of the times.  But, I am sure I did not have that sense of the 50s or 40s or the Depression Era...

I had no idea I would react like that... I do not think of that era often, and I guess I know why.



Years ago, my 6th grade class asked a member to ask his father if he would talk to us about his experiences on Iwo Jima, when we studied World War II.  His response was there are some things you do not talk about.  When my uncle, who was in the Navy during World War II, was asked about what he did in the war, he would say "I went to England."  After his death, we found a commendation letter for his efforts during D-Day, signed by Admiral Nimitz. 

I have to think it is true, that real soldiers do not want war.  They know the horrors of war.

My Father's Paradise

I belong to the Texas Tech University Osher Life Long Learning Institute, and attend the Reading Circle... We met today to discuss "My Father's Paradise" by Ariel Sabar http://www.arielsabar.com/. 

The discussion was lively and interesting.   Many of us agreed we would not normally have read the book, but were enriched by it... We discussed the "pecking order" of immigrants.   The desire of immigrants not to acknowledge their heritage so they can assimilate.  The loss when that happens.  The difference between "the melting pot" and the respect and acknowledgement of individual cultures.  The importance of preserving family heritage and stories.

Many of us were surprised that there was a social stratification of Jewish immigrants in Israel.  We were interested to learn that this area of the world (Kurdistan) , where Jews, Christians, and Muslims lived, had had a sort of homeostasis, that was disrupted by outside influences (the Nazi regime during World War II.).

We talked about using the Aramaic language, including in some recent movies.

It was a good discussion...  

A Tour of "the New County Jail"

Today I went on a tour of the new county jail in Lubbock, or the Lubbock Detention Center.  The people in charge of the county detention center, if they enact the plan they present to the public, "get it." 

The configuration of the jail is such that the offenders will be in "direct supervision."  They will be in pods where they have access to a day room and courtyard area, juice bar, microwave, showers.  Under the supervision of an officer. With videos cameras recording everything.  For minor violations, they can be placed in the cell for 23 hours...The emphasis is on following the rules... They will have access to GED classes, learning life skills, parenting and anger management (mostly done by volunteers.) When they are first arrested, they have unlimited access to phone calls, to try to get out of jail... The day rooms have free access to phones.

The mental health ward will place an emphasis on medication compliance. 

A member of the group asked why the center is not open, if it has been finished for a year... The tour guide explained it has not been finished, because although the outside looks done, the electronics are not.  Taking over the building would mean the county would have to pay for fixing what was not right in the first place...

Visitation will be by video access.  And, eventually for those who can not travel to the detention center, computer access on a library or home computer will be possible... There will even be computer video access for some court proceedings (not trials.) 

This prison was spearheaded by our former sheriff.  The one, who when another mayor died, wanted to run on the Republican ticket, but I am sure because he was Hispanic, the Republicans did not support him.  The Democrats offered to support him to run as a Democrat.  He declined.. He did not want to change his party to win.  So, he ran as an Independent, and won handily.  This sheriff has been on many statewide commissions and committees, and currently is on the Texas Board of Pardons and Parole...So, the county voted to fund this state of the art jail... The county commissioners axed some of the technology, and to the credit of the sheriff's department, they sought out grants, and got them, to fund their plans...

It was a most enlightening tour... The people who toured us were obviously excited and dedicated to the project.  I am a realist, and I know not every employee who will work at the Lubbock Detention Center will have their zeal and vision... But what a culture of positivism.

Go Lubbock County Sheriff's Department!

The Democratic National Convention

I have watched parts of the Democratic National Convention. I missed Senator Ted Kennedy's speech live, saw the re-run. I watched the brother of Mrs. Barack Obama introduce his sister, and watched her speech. I saw some of Senator Hillary Clinton's speech, but missed much of the content...

August 27, 2008, I had a doctor appointment. It is unusual for me to leave this doctor's office before 5 PM, but I was home by about 4:10 PM. I realized I had forgotten to put some mail out for the letter carrier, and I had a free movie from Blockbuster about to expire at the end of the month... There was time for a vigorous walk to the US Postal Service and then to Blockbuster and be home in time for the Yankee-Red Sox game this evening...

So, when I got home, I checked The Weather Channel... It was some minutes shy of the baseball game telecast, so I thought to check in on the convention, not expecting much to be happening....

New Mexico was up, next to cast their delegate votes, with Senator Barack Obama, having some 1500 plus compared to Senator Hillary Clinton's 340 plus...(I think.) New Mexico in their eloquent way, yielded to Illinois... Illinois yielded to New York... Senator Clinton came in and said two important things: all the votes will be counted, and then she made a motion to nominate Senator Obama by acclamation....It was a very emotional moment...And, of course, it was done!

I found myself in tears, and I do not know exactly why.. But, what this lead me to think is that I do want to do some sort of campaign work for Senator Obama... Things happen for a reason: Had I worked a full day, I might have been home and had the TV on at that time... More than likely, I would not have had the TV on, or, I probably would have tuned directly to ESPN where the baseball game was to be aired...(I checked into that before I left for work in the morning.)

The Democratic Party In Texas

I heard on the news yesterday that the Democratic Party in Texas has given up counting the delegates from the Caucuses on March 4, 2008. Instead, they will wait until the regional conventions occur, on March 29, 2008, to determine the number of delegates Sen. Clinton and Sen. Obama will be allotted. Apparently, the system is too confusing, and figuring out the apportionment for the million people who (unexpectedly) attended the Caucuses is too difficult. That does not inspire confidence in the Democratic Party in Texas.

Why invent a system you can not use? I have to wonder out loud if the system was invented to allow a few members of the Party to have more influence, but the inventors did not count on a lot of grass roots participation. This system is only 20 years old in Texas. Time to take a look and see if this is really working.

Precinct committees, AKA caucuses

About the Texas Presidential Primary and Precinct Committee meetings, 3/4/08

Texas does their Republican and Democratic Presidential Primaries different, but Texas does just about everything different. This was the first year, in 30, that I ever paid attention to this, and I think that many other Texans have not paid attention to this, either. Apparently, about 65% of the convention delegates are elected by vote, and the other 35% or so are elected by precinct committees...These precinct committees are held directly after the end of voting, at the polling place.

Typically, according to sources, these precinct committees are barely attended...Not so this year: voting was heavy. From personal reports of friends at various precincts, voting cut off was handled in various manners. But, if someone was inside the polling place door, by 7 PM, they had to be allowed to vote: consequently some polling places had voters at voting machines well after 7 PM, the lines were so long.

Precinct committees could not start until polling was done: voting had to be verified, and if the rolls were incomplete, voting could not be verified...Early voters as well as primary day voters could attend, as long as voting was verified on the rolls...

My experience was we went to a small computer lab in the local elementary school where voting is conducted... There were so many in attendance, milling and churning occurred. We were welcomely moved into the cafeteria where there were seats for all..We were fortunate: the 7:15 PM start was delayed maybe 30 minutes for the last of the voters... It was delayed much longer in many precincts across the state...

We were also blessed: unbeknownst to me, the precinct in which I live is the home precinct of the current Lubbock County Democratic Chairperson, and the future one. We had knowledgeable folks conducting the committee meeting. As I learned from reports of friends and the news media, that was not so in many precincts...

We signed in, the count was made, and of the 84 present, 50 were Senator Hillary Clinton supporters, 34 were Senator Barrack Obama supporters: the delegate allotment was 11 and 7 respectively. We elected a chair and secretary, divided into groups, and "elected" delegates: volunteers were called for first. I did not volunteer at first, thinking everyone there would want to be a volunteer, and I would defer. Wrong. We did get eleven (female) volunteers, and the Obama caucus got their 7, were an equal number of alternates for each...

Resolutions were entertained: from the well thought out to the unrealistic and unreasonable..

And, then we were done.... Except, everyone was invited to volunteer to help with the Lubbcok County Convention. (I have actually attended one, previously.) I signed up... And, will be a delegate.

Over and over again during the committee meeting, I was struck by several things, and comparing notes with my friends, they agreed: Senator Barrack Obama may be reaching out to the young voter, but the attendees at my precinct were of all ages, with a predominance of elderly women. The Senator Hillary Clinton delegates were ALL women. Many, many people present said they were torn between candidates, and found themselves willing to say they would come out and support which ever Democratic candidate is nominated...

Ultimately, I think Democrats are FINALLY glad to have not one, but two candidates they can support! I think many of us have thought these two candidates could fill both the Presidential and Vice Presidential slates. I heard Senator Hillary Clinton say the same, and the decision could be who takes which role.

Ultimately, whether Senator Clinton or Senator Obama is nominated as the party choice, I feel confident this fall I can support the Democratic Presidential candidate to the extent I can be supportive of the campaign in some way... It has been years and THANK YOU!

The Hunt for Red October

I fell in love with Jack Ryan when I first started reading Tom Clancy's novels. I did not flock to see movies, but did enjoy "The Hunt for Red October" in the theater and still love it. It has been on TV quite a bit lately, and is a good movie for me to watch when I can not sleep, which seems to be often, these days. And, which is the case right now.

It's been a while since I have read any Tom Clancy...But, I still love "The Hunt for Red October." I guess it is because I love the improbable Jack Ryan character, I love Sean Connery, and the movie brings me to a time in my life that was good....

"The Russians are Coming, the Russians are Coming" also bring me to a time in my life that was good.

Both movies are more relevant when we can remember the Cold War and the way it influenced our lives.

We are in a world conflicted that is really just as dangerous: I heard it said tonight that the world does not like America... I have thought this for a long time... Tonight, when I heard this, I was at a political rally for Hillary Clinton: the speaker was President Clinton. His comments about the world not liking America are so accurate... I think of this in terms of our consumptiveness without regard for the resources and means of people in other parts of the world....I can not recall to list all the reasons President Clinton gave for the world not liking us: but our duplicity in dealing with the world ranked in all the reasons...

This is going to be a monumentous election for the United States Presidency: The apparent front running candidates are Senator John McCain, Senatory Hillary Clinton and Senator Barack Obama. Sen. McCain is the most "known" entity, his story is well known, and for a Republican, he is relatively open-minded.

For the Democrats, the front runners are a Black male and a woman. No matter how we look at it, the candidate will be historic....

I may be deluding myself, but I see this election as a "no lose" proposition: I see the three named candidates as being people of character who will deal with the nations of the world in keeping with their character.

In "The Hunt for Red October" Captain Ramius was willing to defect to make a statement about dealing with the world in a way that was not duplistic or confrontational... We need leaders who have the same understanding about dealing with the world...

One campaign slogan President Clinton used tonight is "America is Back." I have to think no matter who is elected, America is back...

The Missiles of October

I just watched the movie "The Missiles of October" and was struck by something. The character of Robert Kennedy as portrayed by Martin Sheen was portrayed as someone who continually posed the questions of the moral compass and ethical behavior of the United States. "How would the world perceive the United States, given what we say about our country, if behave such and so?" I remember the times of Robert Kennedy, and I remember that that was his magic: that he held us to a higher standard, to a more moral code of behavior, a more righteous expectation of ourselves. He did this during a time when we as a nation were still violently struggling with our ethnic and racial identity, our moral behavior, our ethical codes...

If we think about this, this is what we loved about Robert Kennedy.. The sad and sorry part of this commentary tonight is that I do not know who, in our public image, represents that moral character now? Not our President, not an ex-President, or even an ex-vice president... Who? Do we have a moral leader like that? Not a Christian leader, but a Moral Leader? Who....

Super Bowl Ads

Note:

I started this post shortly after the Superbowl, and found it the other day. I am upset with myself I never finished nor posted it....till now....., July 10, 2007

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Of course, one of the big draws of the Superbowl, especially for those of us who are casual football fans, or whose favorite team did not reach the game, is the new advertisements that are released for the Superbowl. This year, although as usual, I did not watch closely, I noticed a disturbing trend in the ads. I thought they were distasteful, exploitative, violent. Monday morning, there was a column in the New York Times about the nature and tenor of the ads. The column suggests that the ads reflect the war, and comments about the Coca Cola Hilltop ad, that wanted to "teach the world to sing, in perfect harmony," which was a response to war. But, the message was not anti-war this time; I think the author, Stuart Eliot, is saying that the violence in the ads was a way of condoning the war, or at least the violence was a reflection of the turbulence and violence in our society.. He writes that the ads are not patriotic, but they may reflect the toll of war. I am not so sure I agree with him...

I do not think we can blame the violence and disrespect in the ads on the war. I think we can blame the violence and disrespect of the military on the same thing on which we can blame the violence and disrespect of the advertising community. the lack of good moral values and good moral leadership.

I am not a fan of any Bush administration. But during the administration of George H. Bush, (Bush 1, as the news media likes to refer to him) I believe Operation Desert Storm had a goal and a plan. I believe the leadership had an understanding of respect for human life, and respected the values of the citizens of the countries involved. (I think of how much was made of "educating" the troops about the Arab culture, the taboos of women in public, the taboos against alcohol, for example, in Desert Storm. It would appear, this time around, the local culture was snubbed and violated, not respected.) War is violent, and violent deeds were done. But I think the atrocities were minimal. And, the war did not demolish the structure and fiber of a country, leaving chaos behind...

Not so this time, under the leadership of George W. Bush. There is no moral compass, no moral leadership. The war actions, from the beginning, have been fraught with atrocious and criminal behaviors

Which brings me back to the nature and tenor of the Superbowl ads. We accept violence when we become desensitized to it, when we do not speak out against it. Making violence funny makes it less meaningful, and less dangerous, more acceptable.

I remember a Star Trek that found a society that was waging a very long war. People were taught that when their time was up, they just turned themselves in. The pain and anguish of war was eliminated. Captain Kirk made them return to the pain and anguish of war, because THAT is the true motivation to stop war.

Okay, so were these ads a message about violence, and the need to stop it? No, these ads made violence and disrespect cute, fun. These were not anti-war messages, but, in my mind, they were condone violence messages. They made me uncomfortable, to think that main stream America thinks violence is funny...

Maybe I see too much hate and violence, self mutilation and self loathing to think violence is funny. I know that many of the patients I deal with every day in a prison grew up in a world of violence, chaos, lack of social order. So, for them, established authority is not to be trusted. Taking matters into their own hands is the only rule they trust. Violence is taking matters into one's own hands, instead of following the rules of society.

I work hard, everyday, to convince convicted felons that following the rules because they are the rules, is an important way of taking self control and feeling good about fitting into society: Not worrying about the consequences of doing something wrong; not worrying about getting caught, not always having to be vigilant for the authorities. Doing right because it is the right thing to do. I just do not see violence as the right thing to do.

I still do not see violence as the right thing to do, months after the Superbowl.. I do not recall the specific advertisements, but I know many of them did not stay with us, for which, I am thankful... Maybe we are a smarter public than advertisers and spin doctors give us credit for being.

Redemption

First, let me start by saying that I love words. So, it is only fitting that this blog was conceived as a result of one of the many word games I play regularly, daily if not more often. The game this time is Rootonym, which I access at the AARP website (Games and Puzzles) This game provided the definition as a clue:

Deliverence from sin or atonement for guilt; rescue; act of buying or paying off.

And the answer, of course, was redemption.

What prompted this posting is what struck me about redemption. We frequently hear about religious redemption, deliverence from sin or atonement for guilt. At the Christmas time of the year, we hear about the coming of Christ who was sent to redeem us from our sins, and did so through the sacrifice of his own life. Is that the price he paid, or the price we paid?

As a Christian, I was taught the God sent his Son to "redeem the world." Did his Son want to come? Did his Son ask to come? Did his Son have any forshadowing of the physical pain and suffering to which he would be subjected? Did his Son have any idea the price he would pay would be torture and death? Did his Son know that that was the price of redemption?

If we are true believers of Christ, do we live our lives as if we have an appreciation for the sacrifice this one man made on our behalf. To we appreciate and express gratitude for the payment he made on our behalf...

I looked up the definition of Christ in Merriam Webster's Online Dictionary, and in addtion to Messiah and Jesus, there was the definition:

"an ideal type of humanity."

The "deal" that the Son of God made for us was his physical life after being tortured in exchange for our living "an ideal type of humanity." How many of us keep up our end of the deal. (I started to use the word "bargain," but for Jesus the man, this was no bargain, as we typically use the word today. However, Merriam Webster Online would say it might be, by their definition:

"an agreement between parties settling what each gives or receives in a transaction between them or what course of action or policy each pursues in respect to the other.")

When Mel Gibson's movie, "The Passion of the Christ" came out, I heard my supervisor comment that she was not sure she wanted to see the movie, because it would make her feel guiltier than she already does. My supervisor is a deeply thoughtful (as in caring and kind as well as introspective) woman who lives her Christianity as well as anyone and better than many. Her comment made me think about so many of us so called Christians who do not repent and atone for our sins, or who do not grieve at having been the source of torture and death of Jesus, the man and the Son of God. Catholicism, at the very least, if not the other Christian religions, teaches us WE are responsible for that torture and death as if we were the Roman soldiers wielding the instrutments of pain. Cahtolicism is a guilt based religion, but the guilt should not be to be punished because we are bad, but to acknowledge our part in the pain and suffering of others and change our behavior to diminsh the pain and suffering.

So, the price we pay for redemption is to acknowledge the pain and suffering of Christ, accept our guilt, and live our lives with that ideal type of humanity to minimize the pain and suffering of others. But, do we pay this price?

It gets confusing: Catholicism allowed penitents to buy "indulgences" for our sins, sort of a predeath investment to help us atone for our sins when we die. Indulgences: back to Merriam Webster Online:

"remission of part or all of the temporal and especially purgatorial punishment that according to Roman Catholicism is due for sins whose eternal punishment has been remitted and whose guilt has been pardoned (as through the sacrament of reconciliation)."

People could actually buy "indulgences" with money, although I doubt that was the original intention for how indulgences were supposed to work: Redemption.

I know, this is confabulated. So we have an indulgent God, one who gives us free rein (free will?) or to treats with excessive leniency, generosity, or consideration (again, Merriam Webster Online) but one who exacts the supreme sacrifice from his Son. Mmmmm. Not very indulgent, there, was He?

In my world, I do not hear the word "redemption" much unless it is in a religious context. Yet, when I think of redeeming something, Green Stamps come to mind. For the younger members of the audience, a rewards system involving stamps, not a credit account. You see, rewards with purchase is not a new concept. But, for many people, it felt like and still feels like "getting something for nothing" which is not true, because the rewards concepts are based on a promotional gimmick to get you to use one product in preference to another. Advertising. And, someone pays for the advertising, namely, ultimately, the consumer.

So, what does this have to do with Redemption. Well, I think it interesting that at this time of year, that word came up in a word game. Because this is one of the times of year that the Redemption of Sinners through the actions of Christ is greatly broadcast. "The Reason for the Season."

If you are paying attention, you know where I am going. Because a large part of the emphasis on this season is the commercialism of Christmas: the reports of how much consumers are spending, the advertising, the discounts, the shopping days, the extended shopping hours. I get caught up in it, as do most of us on some level.

So, we use Christmas as a time of Redemption (rewards with purchase, buying indulgences?): Maybe not for our souls but for ourselves. We give gifts as acts of love and kindness and thoughtfulness, but are we trying to redeem ourselves in God's eyes? Or in the eyes of the recipients for our shortcomings past and future? Do we truly give gifts as acts of caring and expressions of love? Do we give gifts because we should? Feel obligated to? Are we buying off relationships? Or truly expressing our feelings for others?

Honestly, I do some of both. Crass as I am, I do it.. It is part of the politics of being in a world with people and complying with certain expected social behaviors. I want to redeem myself with others as well as redeem my soul. I think this is not all bad: I know I am not perfect, and this gives me a "face saving" way to acknowledge that... And, complying with expected social behaviors helps to keep the world functioning smoothly. And heaven forbid, I upset the balance of the world anymore than I already do.

But, there is a great deal of public recognition for "The Reason for the Season" that comes out of this. So, maybe even the commercialism has some redemptive value.

So, Redemption in its many aspects is a key word at this time of year. Maybe we can practice at focussing on the more spritual aspects of redemption and less on the economic aspects. Because practice implies repetitive actions until we get it right. So, we have another year to practice..

Second, let me say this is why I do not blog. It takes me too long to say what I want to say.

Christmas is about spiritual redemption, not buying or paying off something or someone.