A horse is a horse is a horse, of course

I like animals. If my husband would allow it, we would have at least one or two cats in our house, and maybe a guinea pig or rabbit. Every creature is important.

But I am tired of hearing about the horse. He broke his leg. That's sad. But I don't need daily updates on his condtion.

How many Americans receive the level of health care this horse has received? Are people now less valuable than animals?

When a valuable race horse breaks his leg, it's major. But when Americans become homeless or die from lack of health care, it's daily life. Get used to it.

Let's get our priorities straight.

Of the people, by the people, for the people

Nice words. A good ideal for a democratic government.

Of the people. Not the corporations. Not the career politicians. Not the millionaires.

By the people. Not foreign powers. Not lobbyists. Not military leaders.

For the people. Not for the rich. Not for the powerful. Not for overseas interests.

They keep saying we need to spread democracy to other lands. Democracy. The people rule.
It sounds nice. Maybe we can try it some day.

I've had enough of black and white

Early this morning when I turned on my computer I read about a US airstrike killing about 80 Afghans, some of whom were civilians. Mistakes do happen.

A few hours later, the story had changed. No civilians. Just 80 dead. All Taliban. Those evil warriors who threaten the stability of the puppet-government in Kabul, but aren't actually strong enough to threaten anything else.

Even if they did admit to killing civilians, it's no big deal, is it? Collateral damage. As any oncologist knows, you have to kill a few good cells to root out the evil cancer. The important thing is to destroy.

I try hard to know what is going on beyond the mainstream headlines. I used to make it my daily occupation--I must confess I am now distracted by other matters. It's important, though, to investigate and question, rather than simply accepting the official story.

It is heresy to say that the Taliban did some good in Afghanistan, so I won't say that even though this is what my rudimentary research has indicated. Not to say everything they did was good, but only to counter the propaganda that they are entirely evil. It is indisputable that the opium trade was nearly obliterated while the Taliban were in charge.

Regardless, I always ask myself why my country must run the business of other countries. Sovereignty, I believe, is an inalienable right. Yet, though puppet dictators and standing armies, my country continues to dominate.

Eighty Afghans died today. Who they were is disputed. They were human beings, that's for certain. They had lives and families. They were neither good nor evil--few people are--but somewhere in between.

I am tired of a world always painted in black and white. I'm ready for some color.

What happened to all that talk about supporting the troops?

In every war, those who support military action always throw the same argument into the faces of the pacifists. "Support our troops." If we disagree with the war, that will hurt troop morale and endanger the lives of soldiers now fighting.

There are two interesting aspects of the "support our troops" faction. One is that many of them, including all the major decision makers in the White House, failed to fight when their time came. They found excuses or joined local national guard troops, doing whatever they could to prevent being sent overseas.

The other interesting thing about these people is that they don't seem to care about the troops very much after the war. This is why veterans' hospitals are notoriously substandard. And now things are about to get worse.

The Veterans' Disability Benefits Commission is in the process of enacting a plan to reduce the benefits of disabled veterans. This will place many below the poverty level.

Think about it. Someone went to fight in a war and suffered a physical disability. Is he treated like a hero? Or is he considered to be a burden upon society?

Under the current administration, the government has poured billions of dollars into the Iraq war--much of that money did not help either the soldiers or the Iraqi people, but lined the pockets of corporate executives who failed to follow through on their contracts. More now is proposed for a wall along the southern US border. Shades of Berlin. Congress recently extended the tax cuts for the wealthy. The trickle-down theory hasn't worked for twenty-five years, but we keep pouring money into it. And there is always money for a congressperson's pet project. Bridges leading to nowhere. Useless museums.

But education is suffering. Homelessness is increasing. And now the veterans will also be thrown out into the cold.

What kind of a nation fails to serve the people who have served?

Not quite forty days and forty nights

It has been raining for about two weeks now. We've been subject to the same kind of system which has soaked New England, damaging homes and wreaking havoc. I hope to see the sun tomorrow. It's been a while since we've had a sunny day.

Rain is a curious thing. It gives life and it carries death in its wake. Sometimes we pray for it. Sometimes we pray for it to stop. The right amount of rain causes plants and crops to grow and cleanses the earth. Too little, and we can die. Too much, and we can drown.

Rain illustrates the weakness of the human being. Tiny drops of water can completely overwhelm us. Gray skies bring sadness and lethargy. Lightning strikes have proven deadly.

We have had nearly two weeks of rain, not continuously but often enough. Imagine forty days and forty nights. How long would it be before we started building boats of our own?

We are strong. We dominate the earth, taming the land and annihilating whatever stands in our way.

We are weak. Raindrops, when they join together and fall relentlessly, can easily defeat us.

Wake up!

Will we continue in our humdrum lives, working to earn our paychecks and pay our bills, buying more, wanting more, eating, sleeping, arguing, complaining?

Or will we wake up and do something about it?

One can do little. Many can do much.

Just answer this question for me, please

Suddenly, illegal immigration has become a major topic. On the news. In the streets. Even in a specially-scheduled presidential address.

Have the demonstrations caused this? Or is there something else going on?

I know illegal immigration has been an issue for at least thirty years, and my guess would be it has been longer than that. If it has been going on for so long, then why now?

Education is in the dumps. Health care is severely lacking for a large percentage of the population. Fuel is increasingly expensive. American troops are being killed on a regular basis in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Russia and China are forming a formidable alliance, along with a number of smaller countries--including Iran. The dollar is falling worldwide. And so on and so forth.

So why is illegal immigration the issue du jour? What has caused this sense of panic over something which has been quietly debated for so long?

When I watch the TV news or read the papers or mainstream websites, I look for two things. What they report. And what they don't report.

While this brouhaha is being made over illegal immigration, what else is going on? What are we not being told this time?