‘Oh say can you see, by the dawn’s early light, what so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming, Whose broad stripes and bright stars, thro’ the perilous fight, O’er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming? And the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air Gave proof thro’ the night that our flag was still there. Oh, say, does that Star spangled Banner yet wave O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
Oh, thus be it ever when free men shall stand Between their loved homes and the war’s desolation; Blest with vict’ry and peace, may the Heav’n rescued land Praise the Pow’r that hath made and preserved us a nation! Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just; And this be our motto; “In God is our trust!” And the Star spangled Banner in triumph shall wave O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.’
~The Star Spangled Banner by Francis Scott Key~
Bet most of you (at least those of you that are Americans) know the first paragraph but how many of you knew the second paragraph also goes along with the first? Interesting isn’t it. I didn’t post it to disparage other religions. I didn’t post this to get a rise out of anyone. This is my country’s anthem and I’m PROUD to be able to sing it with vigor, even with my untrained voice.
Our country is in so much uproar right now. We’re being called uncivilized by some. We’re definitely being laughed at and ridiculed by other countries. But do they even know how our country works? Have they studied our laws? Have they studied our history as intently as we have (or as we were supposed to have)? I think not. They should’ve been studying it in an effort to at least know a little about neighboring countries but that would be a peripheral study at best and definitely not an in depth study. Please, if you live in another country, why would you choose to be so uncivilized as to laugh and mock the barbarity of others? Do you think your mocking attitude will help solve our problems? That’s an interesting idea. Perhaps we can return the favor at some point.
I would say this: If you are a country that has a reigning monarch as a leader, you have no idea what true freedom is about. Please do not attempt to tell another country whose laws are based on basic freedoms and rights how to run their system. You don’t have a clue. It might be better to follow this advice: If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all. But I guess, you are probably plagued by your own humanity, just like every other human being on this planet. All humans everywhere have the same capacity for love, hate, good behavior, bad behavior, giving, taking, etc. Don’t condescend to us and patronize us because we have the ability to express our opinions outright without fear of retribution because our opinion might not be the opinion of the people in positions of power. I do not presume to tell other countries how they should do things because I do not know the inner workings of other countries forms of government. We have to solve these problems on our own with people who KNOW how our government works who were BORN citizens or who have become citizens of this country and who have studied very well the inner workings of our country and its system of government. Our problems are our own fault and we must solve them on our own. For people of other countries to try to step in and 'help' is hateful, rude, distracting and debilitating. Please stay out of it. I’m glad that the system of health care in Canada has been working as far as most Canadians are concerned. That it works is not the point here. The point is that this new bill has the word MANDATE in it. A command to the citizens of the United States of America, a command that if not followed will result in outrageous fines and jail time. A command that goes directly against what the original Americans set up as our ruling document. The fact is, most of the citizens of the United States of America didn’t want this plan in the form it takes at this time. The fact is that the people that we elected to REPRESENT us bailed on us and decided money in their pockets and material possessions were worth more than the laws of our country. Have any of you read the entire Constitution of the United States of America? Any of you? If not, then just stay out of it. Expressing your opinion is fine. Everyone has opinions and in America, we’re free to express ours…for right now. With the passing of this particular bill, worded the way it is worded now, that may be different in the near future. I’m sorry but my health is my own business. I do not now, nor do I EVER, want the federal government (who doesn’t know me personally nor do they seem to care about me in any sense) getting involved in how 'best' to take care of me and my family’s health!
I realize that there are many countries which have elected officials to represent their feelings toward choices those governments make. What if your representatives completely ignored you? What if they decided their way was much better than anything you could possibly come up with, simply because they had the power to make that decision? How would you feel then? I bet you might feel a little bit betrayed by that person you thought was going to represent your feelings and ideals in order to help you have a better life.
The way our government, the government of the United States of America, is set up is awesome! The problem that we have right now is that too many people are looking for ways to become and stay rich rather than looking for ways to benefit our nation as a whole. They are more concerned with self rather than with service. Unfortunately, we’ve allowed them to think they have all that power. But our own Constitution says that WE THE PEOPLE also have power.
If we truly are a nation that professes ‘freedom and justice for all’, why is it that this MANDATORY health care plan is only MANDATORY for /most/ of the US citizenry. Why is it that our federal representatives and the Amish aren’t part of that MANDATORY bill? What happens when an Amish person needs surgery or non-herbal medicines? Who are they going to go to? What about our /representatives/? Where do they get to go for medical treatment? Will they go to the same type of facility that the common people have to go to? We are mired in this MESS because of our own selfish behavior. When people refuse to work because the federal government is willing to pay them to do so, that’s selfish and stupid. And when our law-makers are up in DC thinking they know what’s best regardless of how the rest of their countrymen feel, that’s selfish and stupid. And when we the people let them do that, that’s irresponsible and stupid.
So let’s talk for a minute about these people that aren’t working. I’m not referring to people who’ve recently lost jobs because of current legislation that caused the closing of so many businesses (which was another example of more irresponsible behavior by our government leaders). I’m talking about the ‘undeserving poor’, you know, they are all over the place. Those people who think the government ‘owes them something’ for their lazy attitudes. Many of them could work but choose not to for the simple fact that they know the government will give them money for free. The sad thing is, it isn’t even a lot of money. But multiply that by the sheer amount of lazy, non-working citizens and you come up with a staggering amount of money. That money could be used to pay off the ENORMOUSLY OUTRAGEOUS debt our country has incurred. I’m not the best at financial planning. As matter of fact, I’m pretty bad at it. But even I know that if you don’t have money, you don’t spend it. There comes a time when you have to realize “Oh, my gosh! This has to stop!” But apparently, our federal government leaders have never reached that point and who will suffer for that? Not them. It will be my children and your children and the children of every hardworking citizen. ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS NEED TO GO HOME OR TAKE THE RIGHT STEPS TO BECOME CITIZENS! Otherwise they are a drain on our already failing economy. (Hmmm, you think that maybe that happened on purpose? Their being allowed to come over here and draining our economy, I mean.)
Ok, so let’s talk taxes. I pay my taxes. I pay them with minimal complaint. I know that our country is like any other business and it needs money to run. I understand that. But when you charge a family a tax that is more than half of what they make annually, how does that help your country? (sarcasm) Oh! I get it! Let’s just put all those low income but hardworking families in jail and keep rewarding the undeserving poor with ‘free’ money. (end sarcasm) That does seem to be the mentality of our federal government, though. Better yet, lets even help people who aren’t even citizens of our country get benefits that are supposed to be available only for citizens of our country.
We have more people in this country that are here illegally and we have more people coming into this country because we provide them with health care they couldn’t get in their own countries, and you want to deride us? Our criminal detention centers offer our criminals better accommodations than many of our citizenry enjoy and you want to condemn us? If you want to offer an opinion, fine but leave it at that. Don’t even try to solve a problem you can’t even begin to understand. Don’t sit in judgment on a policy or a system of government that you’ve never lived under or even studied.
Anyone who has not read this bill, can’t pass judgment on it either. You are automatically disqualified to judge something you haven’t studied, and that’s across the board on any subject. Everyone who has read this bill understands the implications of it. People who trust blindly, are often the most brutally deceived. I remember my grandparents being very adamant about ‘read everything before you sign your name to it.’ How many of you do that? How many of you don’t? How many of you have never even heard someone say that? We, the countrymen of the United States of America, have become so lazy and so lackadaisical about our happy little bubbles that we have turned a blind eye and a deaf ear to the double dealing and chicanery that has gone on for far too long in DC. It must stop or everything our founding fathers fought for will be lost. I hope that this can be stopped in a peaceful and lawful manner, since there are provisions for that in our Constitution. The last thing I want to see is an uprising in my own country! That would make it way too easy for a tyrant to take control. God forbid!
Now if you want to leave a comment, feel free to do so. But if you just want to accuse and try to change my mind, don’t bother. If I change my mind on anything, it will not be because someone told me to do so. I think for myself and I study what I want to learn about. I’m thankful I live in a country where that is possible, where I’m ALLOWED the freedom to do that. I’m thankful for our forefather’s thinking that provided us with the means to keep tyrants from taking hold of our country. If you want to dis on a country, try one who truly deserves it, or at least pick one thing about that country that truly deserves it, then study that one thing to be sure you have the right idea. All of this is my opinion and I will stand by it. Trying to move me to another position would be like trying to move the Great Wall of China in its entirety.
If you’re interested in what stirred me up to write this, check out this blog. It’s a Canadian perspective and opinion on what’s happening in our country. I took it as an opinion only until people started trashing the one American guy who was trying to explain how our system works and why this particular bill is so disgusting to most of the American citizenry. http://bigearcreations.blogspot.com/2010/03/why-are-americhristians-so-angry-at.html Please know that I give kudos to the writer of the blog for expressing his opinion (albeit biased [as it should be. Citizens of a country should support that country.]) and I also give kudos to Snarky Bill who tried his best to help people who can’t possibly understand (mainly b/c they have no desire to do so) how our system of government works. It’s not complex but you can’t possibly explain it in a blog.

So Blessed!

I really am so blessed. I didn't feel much like being thankful or joyful at all this morning. But I look back on the things that have happened since I last posted and I can see so many good things. I've met so many new and fabulous people online and it's such a joy to have conversations with them. There aren't so many preconceptions or expectations. You don't have to look or be perfect. You just need to be yourself. What is really upsetting to me is the fact that this is the way it should be when you meet folks face to face. Ah, well. Preconditioned to judge as we are, I guess it can only be helped when you actively try to overcome it. This is something I'm still working on. Having said all that, I love my new online friends and wish them joy and peace where ever they find themselves.

As for blessings at home, I've been working on a sewing project. I finally tackled a bustier that's been cut out for at least two years. I just finished it today. I finished a matching skirt yesterday and cut out a chemise that will be worn under them. I haven't started sewing the chemise yet, but I hope to finish it by the weekend. It's coming out well. I beaded the ribbon sleeves of the bustier. I also beaded the front of the skirt. I love all the embellishments. They are my favorite part of any project! :) I'll post a pic of it before I beaded it. When I get done, I'll post pix of the completed project.


It's been kinda gray today and yesterday. We saw the sun sporadically today. I went to the library and picked up some more Louisiana books. I also snagged a copy of 'The Jewel in the Skull' by Michael Moorcock. I've never read anything of his before...at least, not that I'm aware of. I've read a lot of stuff over the years. LOL We'll see how it goes. I love what I've read so far. He paints a very pretty picture.

Well, it will be time for a new look soon. I've decided to cut my hair short again. I'm thinking about a similar style to the female voiced by Drew Barrymore in Titan A.E. but not sure how that will work with my face shape. (sigh) Trying out a new hairstyle is so stressful. It'll be different though. I'd love to just be able to run my hands through my hair and go in the mornings. If it's not wash and go, I'm not interested. I have better things to do with my time than spend it on my hair. LOL

Last but certainly not least, the local theater group held auditions for a new play a few weeks ago. My husband, who's never done anything of the kind, read and got the lead role! We were there to offer help where it was needed, whether with sets or costumes or whatever. It was so totally unexpected and he's so totally stoked. It's been a really good thing. Now if he can just survive the performance. :) There is a lot of action involved and it's a comedy. I can't wait to see the finished production.

I guess that's about all for right now. As ever, I'll try to post more often but we all know how that's going to go... LOL!

Laugh a Lot!