Greed and the Christmas Spirit

The human race never ceases to amaze me! The whole holiday of Christmas, well, every holiday for that matter, has been hijacked and held for ransom by the big corporations. They have even managed to get their chubby fingers into the Christmas pie! Black Friday, as most of you know, is the "big" shopping day after Thanksgiving (which we only get to enjoy for a day). Gorging on material things has become a close rival with stuffing your face and belly on Thanksgiving.

This greed has become even more obvious this year. Yesterday, in New York State, a local Wal Mart opened its doors at 5am, as has become the new tradition for Black Friday. Bargains galore awaited the shoppers who frothed at the mouth to storm the doors. In all of the frenzy created by greed and first-come first-served, get-mine-before-you-get-yours mentality, the man who opened the doors was trampled and killed by the mob of holiday shoppers. In an effort to help rescue the man, several workers were also stampeded upon, though not as tragically.

When that particular Wal Mart announced that they were going to shut the store because of this man's death, the holiday well-wishers loudly protested, saying they weren't going to leave, because they had been in line since "yesterday."

For me, the way people have become obsessed with their spending and materialism at Christmas has become a big turnoff. The holidays are no longer about family and friends and traditions...they're about greed, materialism, and selfishness. How about we go back to the days of homemade gifts, home baked goodies...things that require an effort and are made with love?

I'm sorry for that man and his family, and I'm sorry that some Americans are such selfish pigs. But, hey! Don't let another human being's loss of life ruin the bargain you'll get on a 19" Samsung flat screen TV!

Just Want To Say....

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! I hope your day is full of family, food, fun, and most of all, football!!!! Ha! Go Cowboys!

Just a reminder to love and appreciate your family, and be thankful for all of your blessings!

What a Lovely Song/Video

We Hold These Truths...

The opening of the Declaration of Independence written by Thomas Jefferson in 1776, states as follows:

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness."

So why is gay "marriage" even an issue? Can you imagine if the Southern States would have been allowed to "vote" on the issues of slavery, or civil rights? It never would have passed. Since when does popular vote dictate civil rights? Discrimination should never be "amended" to the constitution, whether it is the State or United States Constitution.

I was reading an article on huffingtonpost.com yesterday (or the day before!), about the passing of Prop 8 in California, what a step backwards it is. One of the comments was to this effect, "If you people would call it something different, I would stop voting no."

Ummmmm...okay, what else should we call it?

Freedom From Religion

This is the website I was talking about in one of my blogs. It's the Freedom From Religion Foundation.

http://www.ffrf.org/

It's A New Day!

Will.i.am's new video:

I Couldn't Resist...Mmmkay?

I LOVE SOUTH PARK!

Hate and the State Constituion

Most of you informed people know about Prop 8 in California...banning same sex marriage after it had been declared legal by the Supreme Court. On the drive to Colorado Springs on Thursday, Nicol and I were discussing it. I told her that it didn't make sense to me how a state constitution can be amended so easily, when it is such a major undertaking to amend the US constitution. I explained it to her a bit, then we started listening to Randi Rhodes on Air America 760, progressive talk (just a little advertisement). Randi is an amazingly smart person. You can listen to her online if you don't have a progressive radio station in your area. http://www.therandirhodesshow.com/ Randi was talking about the very same thing.

In case you don't know how it works, I will tell you. Any proposed amendement to the United States constitution requires 2/3 approval by the House of Representatives, then a 2/3 approval by the Senate. THEN it goes to the States for ratification. The amendment then has to be approved by 3/4 (I believe this is right) of the States. It's a LONG process, and one that has a very small chance of being approved.

This is not true with what has been happening in the states that have banned gay marriage, and adoption for gay couples. Groups with political and religious agendas, backed by money, have been able to get initiatives and amendments to the state constitutions on the ballot by getting a required number of signatures. Period. (The Mormon Church gave over $15 million to help defeat Prop 8). Then the amendment passes or fails by a civil majority...meaning if it's 1999.6 votes to 1999.4 votes, it passes. This just isn't right. Why don't states have to follow the same procedure to amend their constitution that the nation has to follow? And why are we allowing hate and prejudice to be written into the constitution?

Personally, I think this could be a good thing, though, because it opens up the amendments that have been passed, to the courts...or it should...because they are unconstitutional. We just need someone to stand up and challenge these intiatives. And I think the Mormon Church should lose its tax exempt status for mixing politics and religion.

Survival

Well, we survived the Colorado Springs trip! The show was decent, considering the shambles our economy is in. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I was reading one of the "Springs" independent newspapers...it had a caricature of George Bush, with a caption that said "That's All Folks!" It was like Porky Pig and Looney Tunes. The paper said that 40% of El Paso county voted for OBAMA! That is a miracle of all miracles! I just can't describe to you how conservative that area has always been. Up until this year, there wasn't ONE government position held by a Democrat.

I had so many positive comments on my Obama buttons. Obama supporters walked around with HUGE smiles on their face...and everyone would say the same thing, "This feels so good!" And I would agree! It does feel good. Like a huge weight has been lifted off! Ahhhhh.....

We also had some great sushi with some friends who live in Colorado Springs. They are a bi-racial couple, and when they first moved to the Springs, Jimmy said they got so many stares. One of the first questions he was asked by his neighbors was, "What flock do you belong to?" Isn't that just weird? Some of those people are whacky!

I saw a billboard that said, "Imagine No Religion." What a great city to have that billboard in. The website is ffrf.org, I believe. I'm going to check it out today.

Pray For Me, People....

....ha ha! Nothing life threatening or anything like that! Just keep Nicol and me in your thoughts as we venture out to the whackiness that is Colorado Springs. This is one of THE most beautiful cities in Colorado, but sadly also one of THE most conservative cities in the nation, not to mention THE home of Focus on the Family....ICK, ICK, AND MORE ICK. I am tempted to wear my Obama t-shirt, but it is dirty from Tuesday night and probably still smells of champagne, so I will have to wear a button. I can't think of a city I would rather go to right now! I wish I had a Bill Maher button to wear!

Hey all you crazies! Come buy a Pony-O for Horus-mas (get Adrienne to explain that one)! HA!