Not Keeping it Classy

You are only young once, but you can stay immature indefinitely.
~Ogden Nash~

I have to say, I really didn't want to get back into this but when I logged on to Facebook this morning, my newsfeed was overflowing with more of this and posts intended to make fun of and degrade these women. I had my fill, so here I go...


I was in DC for the inaugurations of President Trump.  That was my ONLY reason for going.  However, while there, I got to witness firsthand the asinine immaturity of a small representation of American women.  I was appalled, ashamed and embarrassed.  The vulgarity of both their displays and their words were offensive.  I was shocked at how much they didn't seem to mind that there were small children in their midst.  I have to wonder if those children had drawn such pictures or used such language, how quickly - or even IF - they would have been taken to task.


As they littered their march with claims of being a "nasty woman", I asked myself if they really thought anyone would take them seriously.  I've heard much mocking of these women in the days since I've been home and am so glad I was not, am not and would never be a part of those women.  You will never hear me claim to be a "nasty woman"; rather, I will be a CLASSY WOMAN.


I'm tired of hearing the argument that tampons and pads are taxed while Rogaine and Viagra are not.  First of all, Viagra is a prescription drug and ALL prescription drugs in the US are tax exempt.  Secondly, Rogaine is a treatment for both men and women so that's an invalid comparison.  As for tampons and pads, please tell me what men use that can compare.  I can think of nothing.


And then there were the ones wearing replicas of uteruses on their heads (did I mention how immature some of these women were?) and carrying signs that read "my uterus, my business".  I'm not sure what exactly this protest was but my best guess is they were pro-choice advocates.


It should be noted that there were many men in this march as well.  Some of them were wearing the same ridiculous outfits and carrying the same obscene signs as the women.  I was watching them and watching the little girls in the march and wondering how they could, in good conscience, expose these little women-in-the making to the disrespect that these women have brought upon themselves.


And don't get me started on Madonna and Ashley Judd!  I can promise you, they DO NOT represent me or any of my women friends.  If I were raising a daughter today, they and their "ilk" are the LAST women I would want for role models.  No one will ever convince me that these women have respect for themselves (or others) when they act as they do.


I assume this march was supposed to be in protest of Donald Trump.  I don't buy it.  Why wait until the day after he's inaugurated to protest?  The time for such events has long passed.  Nothing is going to change now.  Protest until the cows come home if you want.  Donald Trump will still be president and HE isn't going to take you seriously either.


Just one classy woman's opinion...

With apologies to Wiliam Shakespeare: To Trust or not to Trust: that is the Question.

Put more trust in nobility of character than in an oath.
~Solon~

While Hamlet may have been considering suicide and the damnation that might come after, so we, too, have an important choice to make.  As with every election I can remember, our choices seem to come down to the lesser of two evils.  The choices for this election seem to be particularly bad.  In this post, I am not going to endorse either candidate but I AM going to ask YOU some questions that I hope will give you some food for thought.


There are many concerns about the moral compass of both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton - and with good reason.  Information has been made public about both candidates that is disturbing on a good day. This is not that good day.  The choice we have to make is not only important, it's vital to the future of our country and its citizens.  The most important question is "who do you trust"?  Here are some others:


First question:  Instead of just listening, do you actually HEAR what the candidates are saying?  What about what they're NOT saying?  Do you blindly trust what they tell you or do you do your own research?  Do you listen to both candidates with the same fervor or do you listen to whatever will paint a particular candidate in a good or bad light?


Second question:  Do you base your vote on a single issue or do you consider all issues equally important?  Is there any issue that is a "deal-breaker" for you?  Can you forego your conscience and vote for the candidate who agrees with you on every issue except that one "deal-breaker"?


Third question: Is a code of ethics a consideration for you or do you prefer a candidate who will do what needs to be done even if it's unethical?  Can a person be morally bankrupt yet have the skills, intelligence, thoughtfulness and focus to be a good leader?  Is it important to you that we have a person of faith lead our country?


Fourth question:  Do you have discussions about the candidates and the issues with people of all opinions?  Do you seek information or do you wait for it to come to you?  Do you believe only what you hear on the news or in commercials or do you question what you hear?  Do you ever question yourself about what you really believe and why?  Have you considered all angles of an issue?


Fifth question:  Do you measure the value of a candidate based on outside forces?  Does physical appearance or behavior influence you?  Do you pay attention to body language and voice inflection?  Can you separate an honest mistake from what some deem a clue to a hidden agenda?


We each have only one vote and we need to use that vote to the best of our ability.  The above questions may help or maybe they won't.  Either way, we have to elect a new president.  Again, I ask:  who do you trust?


I don't know who our next president will be but we all need to pray for our country and our leaders.  And you know what?  Let's pray for our voters as well.


As always...  just my thoughts...

Strange Bedfellows

A democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where fifty-one percent of the people may take away the rights of the other forty-nine.
~Thomas Jefferson~

I was challenged by a dear friend to do my own research on Donald Trump’s alleged sex crimes.  I accepted the challenge but took it one step farther.  In order to be fair and to make a better informed decision, I decided to research the Clintons as well.


Donald Trump has been accused of rape, attempted rape, inappropriate touching, groping, sexual misconduct and lewd comments concerning women.


Bill Clinton has been accused of rape, sexual misconduct, groping, exposing himself and sexual harassment.  It’s a fact that he has lied about his sexual exploits at least once.


Hillary Clinton has defended at least one man accused of raping a minor and has been accused of threatening that young girl as well several women who have made accusations against her husband.


Now, my first thought when all of this began was “Why bring Bill Clinton into this?  He’s not running for president”.  I have since decided that it’s not a bad idea.  After all, Bill was a president who had these accusations leveled at him both before and during his presidency.  This certainly gives us an indication of whether a person can be sexually immoral and still be an effective president.


I do find myself wondering how Hillary can call herself an advocate for women when she clearly has a double standard in her reactions to the women who accused Bill and Donald.  How can she condemn those who accused her husband while speaking in favor of those who accused her opponent?  I find myself thinking – no, BELIEVING – that the only woman Hillary cares about is Hillary.  Maybe she cares about her daughter.  Certainly I feel no kinship with her at all.


Somehow, all of the main issues have been lost in the midst all of these accusations.  I have to wonder if that was deliberate.  Does anyone remember where either candidate stands on any particular issue?  Who will do more to keep us safe?  Who will do more to get our economy moving again?  Who will choose the best person for the Supreme Court?  Those are some of the things on which I will base my decision – not who has the least amount of immorality.


As always… just my two cents.

On Growing Old

"Beautiful young people are accidents of nature, but beautiful old people are works of art."
~Eleanor Roosevelt~

As a young girl, I would look at the Argyle pattern on the back of my grandfather's neck and wonder what it was like to be old.  I, of course, was never going to look like that or have wrinkles or sagging skin.  After all, I was young and always would be.


When I first noticed the diamond shaped wrinkles on my grandfather's neck, he was probably about the age I am now.  In the years since, I've noticed the pattern on other men's necks and decided it must be a "man thing" since I'd never noticed it on a woman.  Maybe that's because women tend to hide their necks beneath long hair - who knows?


Yesterday, I saw that pattern on my husband's neck and immediately thought of my grandfather.  Like a ton of bricks, it hit me that we had become the "old" people.  It's true - all of our parents and grandparents are gone.  Between the two of us, my husband and I had over 20 biological aunts and uncles.  I still have 3 biological aunts and one biological uncle left but all of my husband's are gone.  With that logic, we're not quite at the peak...yet.  Our generation is dangerously close to the beginning of the end.  That happens when people get old but, as I said, WE are NOT old.


We are both in our 60's and that is NOT old these days.  I remember both sets of parents and 3 of the 8 grandparents. They looked old; they acted old; they WERE old.  Eyesight was failing, hearing was going, memory was a come and go thing, joints ached and they just didn't have the stamina they once had.  No, that's not us at all!


Nevermind that we're both wearing bifocals now, that my husband is losing his hearing, that we both have become forgetful, that our joints ache all the time and that we can no longer do what we used to do or that what we CAN do, we can't do at the same level.  No, WE are not getting old.


I used to look at my mother's face and think to myself that I would never have wrinkles like that.  I was never going to have sagging jowls or baggy eyes.  So guess what I see when I look in the mirror?  Yes, sagging jowls, baggy eyes and my mother's wrinkles.  I don't have a clue how this happened because in my mind, I'm still 35.  My body can't do what it once did but I still feel young.


It's funny how I used to look at old people and wonder what it must be like to know you have many more years behind you than ahead of you.  I will admit - I AM at that point.  I'm fairly certain that I won't live to be over 120 years of age.  With that in mind, I have to accept that I'm on the downhill slope.  Even so, I AM NOT OLD!


My husband can easily refer to himself as an old man.  I'm not there yet - not for either of us.  In fact, one thing I've always said about myself is that I will never get old - I will just live a very long time.  To be the longest living young person is quite a feat and I'm working on achieving that goal.


Knowing all that I know and believing all that I believe, I've concluded that our bodies will get old and show the signs of aging in some very unattractive ways no matter how much we fight it or how much we deny it.  Our soul, however, is timeless and never ages.  That's why in our minds, we don't feel old.  Our minds and our hearts are the essence of who we are and who we always will be.  I am not my body so I will never get old.  I just wish I didn't have to look like I did.


Just my humble opinion...

Rights, Actions and Consequences

You can't blame anyone else ... no one but yourself. You have to make your own choices and live every agonizing day with the consequences of those choices.
~Max Brooks, World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War~

All of this hoopla surrounding standing or not standing for our national anthem has really been uppermost in my mind of late.  I find it most offensive when someone who is supposed to be a role model for our children chooses to protest by showing disrespect for something that means so much to so many.


It's true that said person (and many who have followed his lead) has the Constitutional right to protest.  It's also true that no one has to agree with or condone his actions.  There is absolutely a difference between having a right to do something and doing the right thing.


What I think he may not have considered when he started this protest is that his actions have consequences.  Not only has he been booed in public, his football jerseys have been burned and he lost some endorsements, his chosen method to protest has shifted the focus from the reason for his protest to a seemingly lack of patriotism and a figurative slap in the face to every man and woman who has fought for the liberties he takes for granted.


His "cause", I think, has some merit and does need some attention.   Showing respect to our flag, our anthem, our military and our country - all of which were disrespected, in my opinion - is not the way to further awareness about or cause action to change something.  As I said before, the reason for the protest has been lost.  You don't believe me?  Start asking everyone you see what they think this man was protesting.  No cheating by googling or researching or asking others.  Some will know, many will not.


Just my two cents...

Is Voting a Waste of Time?

Bad officials are elected by good citizens who do not vote.
~George Jean Nathan~

We in America do not have Government by the majority; we have Government by the majority who vote.
~Thomas Jefferson~

Both quotes above were so appropriate that I couldn't decide which to use so I used them both.

It's a shame how much voter apathy there is in the US.  Sadly, this is not a new trend. I did a little research and found a website (www.fairvote.org) that lists voter turnout for all presidential elections from 1916 through 2012.  Imagine my surprise when I discovered the largest voter turnout was in 1960 at just 63.8%.  The lowest turnout was in 1924 with 48.9% voter turnout. Unbelievable.


Things get even worse when you consider the percentage of those who are eligible to register to vote are actually registered.  According to www.demos.org, an estimated 51% percent of eligible Americans are NOT registered to vote.  Now I don't know how Demos came up with that percentage but if I were a gambling person, I'd bet they're not far off the mark.


So, now we have about 64% of 49% of Americans determining who leads our country and makes our laws.  If my calculations are correct (forgive me if math was NOT my best subject), that means that less than one third of adult Americans who are eligible make all the decisions on who is elected to lead our country.  Even if a candidate is unanimously elected, he or she is chosen by a very small percentage of the citizenry.  What a sad state of affairs!  I promise you, though, that about 90% of all Americans - or higher - will offer an opinion on the outcome of any given election.


Can you just imagine how different things might be if a majority of Americans actually registered and then voted?  What must we do to stop the apathy of the American voter?  I don't have an answer because I just can not comprehend the mindset that "my one lousy vote doesn't matter".   What if that small percentage of voters all decided to stay home on election day because of that mindset?  The candidate with the largest family would probably win the election because you know they and their families are going to vote.


I'm issuing a challenge to every American who is legally eligible to register to vote to gather his or her family and their friends who have the same mindset and register NOW and then show up to vote on November 8, 2016 and cast a ballot.  Let's find out what happens if we have an election and everybody comes.

Is It Still A Law If It's Not Enforced?

Those who object to the use of the term "Illegal Alien" appear to believe that if they can convince the American public that illegal immigration is not really illegal, then amnesty no longer is amnesty and enforcing immigration law is unnecessary.
~Eric A Ruark~

 

If there's any one issue that's been talked about during the early part of this election season it's illegal immigration.  I'll be honest here - I have absolutely no clue how to fix the problem.  Make no mistake - it IS a problem but it's a problem much larger than people coming into our country without going through the proper channels.

 

The last estimate I saw said there are about 20 million illegal immigrants in the US.  According to the Pew Research Center, only about half of them are from Mexico and about 5% of the labor force in the US is made up of illegal immigrants.

 

According to the American Immigration Counsel, the majority of illegal immigrants DO pay taxes, DON'T take jobs away from American workers, DON'T want welfare, DO want to learn English and DO want to become Americans.

 

To be perfectly honest, I don't know where either of those agencies get their information from so I can neither validate nor discredit any of the so-called "facts".   I can and will offer my personal opinions on all of it (did you really doubt I would?)

 

First of all, if you remove all the statistics from the picture - all the beliefs, the pros & cons, the good & bad, the reasons why - you end up with one undeniable fact.  It's against the law.  Pure and simple.  Now the question becomes "what can we do about it?"

 

I know there are many illegal immigrants who come here looking for a better life for their families.  I know they will take the jobs and do the work that most Americans won't.  I know that many of them DO learn English and DO obey our laws - well, except for that nasty one about immigration, of course.

 

Several years ago, my community lost two beautiful, intelligent and vibrant teenage girls who had bright futures ahead of them.  They were stopped at a stop light when they were rear-ended by a drunk driver.  He was an illegal immigrant who already had several DUIs on his record and had even spent time in jail for drunk driving.  He had also been arrested for other offenses (armed robbery being one) more than once.  His immigration status was known after his first arrest.  The community demanded to know why this man was still in America.  The answer was because he had committed no deportable offenses.  What?  Did I hear that right?  No deportable offenses?  Shouldn't illegal immigration in and of itself, by its very  nature, be a deportable offense???  That's like saying a law is not enforceable.  No it's not - that's EXACTLY what it's saying.

 

I totally understand that there are good people who break the law sometimes.  If someone is here illegally but they follow our laws and become productive members of society who give back when and where they can, then we need to work with them and help them to become legal immigrants.  If, on the other hand, they’re breaking our laws and have no respect for our way of life, choosing instead to live off of our social programs and never give anything back, send them back to their home country.

 

In my opinion, one answer to our illegal immigration problem is to make it less attractive.   Every social program we offer should be available only to those who are here legally and they should have to prove it by showing a visa or a green card.

 

Another solution is to change the immigration law itself.  It’s hard to come here legally.  The process for immigrating legally is tedious, arduous and loaded with paper work.  Maybe THAT’S what needs to be fixed?

 

In today’s world, certainly we have to be cautious but isn’t it true that no matter how little we may know about a legal immigrant, it’s certainly a lot more than we know about an illegal one. At the very least, we know he’s here and where he came from.