Republican Majority

For years people have been saying that if the Republicans ever had total control of the government, they would try to turn this country into a theocracy. Well, guess what, they are now on the march.

Luckily the American people are starting to take notice. No, you can't bend the rules (on an ethics committee no less) to protect your unsavory leader. Yes, you can still be a Christian and support the judicial filibuster. Every day there is a new right wing agenda item coming up in Congress.

Where will it all end? So far they have managed to change the bankruptcy law to suit the credit card companies (not even exempting people who went broke because of a medical emergency), voted to dig in the Alaskan reserve, and even managed to pass a bill today that won't let someone get an abortion in a neighboring state if the state they come from did not allow it. Who knew that our state laws should travel with us wherever we go.

Wondering where we're headed? Looks like the American Taliban is trying to take over.

It Can't Happen Here

The news all over Rochester Hills today is the story of a 15 year old boy who stabbed his mother to death. She was a divorced hypno-therapist whose license plate read LOVE4U. By all accounts she doted on her son, who most folks say was just a typical teenager.

How do people come to this? How does an ordinary high school freshman one day reach for a knife and stab his own mother (111 times)?

Is it the culture we live in? The culture of violent video games and movies, where slicing someone up is considered fun and entertaining. Do our children become desensitized to violence because it is such a large part of their everyday (entertainment) experience?

All I can do is react in sadness and dismay. Two lives totally destroyed, the promise of the future brought to nothing.

Losing a Loved One

Heidi Siw

They say you shouldn't be too sad when a pet dies. After all, she was only a dog. But, I am finding that the sadness continues longer than I expected. I was surprised at the number of sympathy cards I received and the number of friends who emailed to say how sorry they were.

As I watched her suffer the night she died, I remember thinking that I could not end the suffering of a loved one, if they were human. I would just have to watch them struggle in fear and pain. Luckily I could take my dog to the vet and end her suffering, painlessly and without fear.

Then you put yourself in their place. That makes it all too painful and frightening. I hope there are more Dr. Kevorkians out there when my time comes.

Helping Others

I think I find my greatest joy when I am helping someone. Especially someone who can't help themself. But I wonder am I doing it just because it makes me feel good, maybe even lucky that I am not that person?

We should be wanting to do things for others because it is the right thing to do, not for purely selfish reasons. Maybe I do it for both reasons?

Today's lesson children is Know Thyself. That's probably one of the hardest things to do. There's the you that you think you know, then the other side that comes out occasionally. Which is the real you? It's all about the motivation. Why are you doing what you're doing. That's where the real you lies.

Why Go On?

You have to wonder, at least every once in a while, why in the heck we are here. If you have a strong religious faith, maybe you already know. If you don't, maybe you don't care. But what if you are in between???

That's my dilemma.

As you grow older, you begin to see the end of life's journey, you see friends dying, even in their forties and fifties. You wonder, am I next. It's all about me...

How sad if that's true.

I was brought up to believe that we are all here to do good works, to help others. I still feel that way. Mostly...