Let light come to be...

or "Let there be light", or however you've heard it, it's all the same thing. After Jehovah the God created the light (Jesus), everything came afterwards. Now, what if, almost naturally, the first thing that the spiritual light would create, since HE was created as the great architect of the universe WAS, in fact, stars. Makes total sense, doesn't it? Now, stars come in ALL sizes. Ours, for instance is a pretty small guy for an active sun. Betelguise (pronounced here as Beetlejuice) is WAY bigger, and there is another sun that dwarfs IT, so. We don't have a clue how long God's days and nights are. They could last literally billions of years, down to 24 hours at any given time, it's not for us to know, but assume that as His divine architect is creating stars for the light, it takes billions of years for them to become what they all eventually do become. Big balls of gas, AND, they also have two other things in common. They all eventually burn out due to their hydrogen molecules turning into iron, instantaneously causing the star to explode; AND the fact that everything else IN the universe is made partly of stardust, the building blocks of life, plus some. SO, the first thing to exist beyond the Father and the Son HAS to be light, otherwise nothing else could get made. So they wait, and commune until some stars finally explode and widen the universe to the point where gravity takes things over and causes planets, moons, meteors, asteroid belts to come into being, and THEN, the dust further settles where it is designed to settle and starts the process of creating things with the Carpenter's help. So we truly are, science has proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that we are comprised of stardust molecules, as is everything. So yeah! We agree on something at last. They just aren't quite ready to admit that someone intelligent had anything to do with how it happened. First was the "Big Bang Theory" that first there was nothing, then in an instant, everything out there, THEN there is "String theory" about multiple universes , and now ladies and germs, there is "M" theory, where two brains out there on occasion collide and made all of this.
My question is, with ALL that is happening in the world right now, WHY MUST we find the answer before we need to? It's NOT like anything is going to change any time soon, and we could sure use the trillions of dollars spent on this research, most of which is done in rooms on grease boards, NOW for stuff that is in dire need NOW, not in a billion years from now. I would LOVE to know how the universe works, but quite frankly, I don't think we are equipped to grasp the answer to that just yet. We would go insane if we really knew what was going on out there, we are yet as children. If it was time, we'd have been shown by now, right? Can we please just grasp what we DO know first, please, before foraying out there to find stuff we cannot comprehend yet? I want to know, but I have learned, as a grown up, the concept of delayed gratification and can wait until I'm supposed to see the bigger picture, and there is a LOT of it to study before running out for a LONG time. So learn some things about the known universe first before we literally "put our foot into it" and come to find out that there are greater things in heaven and on earth than we can imagine, already. Whadda ya say, huh?And in the meantime, let's talk about taking care of some things here, OR we would absolutely NOT be around long enough to find out the big surprise, and we want to be there don't we? I'm not saying to curtail the space programs entirely, but enough that we can balance the budget, little things like that and THEN, when we can afford to do all of this 'traveling", I'm  on board, let's get things rolling along and find stuff out, okay? Otherwise, we're just going to be another dead moon if someone eventually finds us. What if they came today? I'd be embarrassed for how little we know about the "big room" we running around in, when we don't really know everything that's going in here. Let's explore our house before the neighborhood, what do you say??
Just saying,
Dragonfly Davis

What if...

a person's whole being perched on those two words, what if? What if it gets better tomorrow, what if I help someone next week that wouldn't otherwise get help, what if I'm going to die in a month anyway and so just be patient? It's like Schrodinger's cat*.
You don't get to know what if unless you open the box, and if you open the box, you may find that you're already gone and this is all just a dream of some sort that you've never experienced. Maybe everything is just a dream that someone, somewhere is dreaming and everything we know to BE is part of that dream? Could that being be God? Are we all part of His dream for a universe and everything that would be in it? What if every single particle IN that dream made a difference in it? I saw a program, a science program, that proved that we are indeed formed from dust, stardust, to be exact. Every single thing in the universe is composed of the inner workings of stardust, from a star somewhere that died and spread itself out into the cosmos. It's positively Biblical in proportion when you think about it.
When the first star was created (let light come to be), it came and it grew over time and when it became old enough, it exploded into the space created and became EVERYTHING.
Remember that God's, and the universe's time, are NOT the same as OUR time. Who says science and religion can't get along? They're basically saying most of the same things, but like the Hatfield's and the McCoys, the Montague's and the Capulet's, neither side wants to admit they are in agreement about a LOT of stuff. There is NOTHING that I saw in "How the Universe was made" that dissuaded me from believing that an intelligence did it, nothing. Sorry space cowboys, you're steadily proving the Bible to be true little by little, whether you know your cat is dead or not.
As for MY cat, it's still in the damn box, and I'm scared to open it up. I want SO badly to be gone from all this pain, discomfort, frustration, loneliness and heartache, but then, what if...  Those have GOT to be the two most diabolical words ever stuck together, and bah humbug to the bugger that did it. A pox on your big toe.
This is SO freaking hard sometimes, isn't it?
Just sayin' and trying to explain it all,
Dragonfly Davis
No extra charge for the definition below, I think everyone should read it, it's a poser, to say the least, and makes lesser stickers somewhat less sticky sometimes.
 

*Schrodinger's cat

Schrödinger's cat is a famous illustration of the principle in quantum theory of superposition, proposed by Erwin Schrödinger in 1935. Schrödinger's cat serves to demonstrate the apparent conflict between what quantum theory tells us is true about the nature and behavior of matter on the microscopic level and what we observe to be true about the nature and behavior of matter on the macroscopic level -- everything visible to the unaided human eye.
Here's Schrödinger's (theoretical) experiment: We place a living cat into a steel chamber, along with a device containing a vial of hydrocyanic acid. There is, in the chamber, a very small amount of hydrocyanic acid, a radioactive substance. If even a single atom of the substance decays during the test period, a relay mechanism will trip a hammer, which will, in turn, break the vial and kill the cat.
The observer cannot know whether or not an atom of the substance has decayed, and consequently, cannot know whether the vial has been broken, the hydrocyanic acid released, and the cat killed. Since we cannot know, according to quantum law, the cat is both dead and alive, in what is called a superposition of states. It is only when we break open the box and learn the condition of the cat that the superposition is lost, and the cat becomes one or the other (dead or alive). This situation is sometimes called quantum indeterminacy or the observer's paradox: the observation or measurement itself affects an outcome, so that the outcome as such does not exist unless the measurement is made. (That is, there is no single outcome unless it is observed.)

Two and a half terminal men...

Is what it should have been called when Ashton came in to save it. Mr. Kutcher is NOT the reason the show is failing. It was on it's last legs when the pathetic Charlie Sheen finally blew a gasket. Granted, the show was, in large part, pretty much a thinly veiled view into Mr. Sheen's real life, but the rest of it was at least still tolerable, but sinking already. The real reason the show is tanking is the terrible writing. It's always been mostly dialogue full of double meanings and barely acceptable language, but Chuck Lorre has obviously lost all interest in this particular horse in his stable of shows. It's just everyone is now just walking about, saying the most prurient things they can think to say. The only character that has any decent dialogue is Walden, and he can't do it all alone, he has to have SOMEONE to play off of.  It's pure and simple, the show has just run out of ideas. Even if Charlie were still there, this would be the final hours of the thing. It wasn't much more than a one trick pony to begin with, but now everyone on the show is a caricature of themselves and it should be brought to an end, it's suffered enough. If anyone could have saved it, it was Ashton, but the writers just aren't interested any more, so let it die in peace, it's just embarrassing itself now, and it's the fault of the writers and producers, NOT the actors, most of which are probably hanging on so tightly because their employment elsewhere is in peril, except for Mr. Kutcher, which is a shame, because there are some good actors on the show, just not being used well, just used. Say goodbye, please.
Just sayin',
Dragonfly Davis

Creation and Evolution, just a thought...

This ongoing battle about whether we're a product of creation or evolution needs to stop, and I think that maybe semantics may be the reason that it rages on. Give this a few minutes thought, if you would.
Say we were created, bam, we're here. Nowhere in the Bible does it say exactly HOW long it took for things to "mature" into what they are now. One of God's days could be millions of ours, right? SO, that could mean that we took a LONG time to become what we are, couldn't it? And as far as the term "evolve", it could just as easily be called "adapting", couldn't it? We have always adapted to whatever we were presented with. You can see that in the different races around the globe, how they adapted to the weather and conditions in their areas. Adaptation does NOT mean we were not created, does it? It doesn't have to. It's like the automobile. The first cars were made of what was possible at that time, right? And as the years have gone by, the cars have adapted to the changing conditions, the wants of the consumers, the laws of the land, etc., but that doesn't negate that they were created in their original form, does it? No. Everything that was created at the start is not still around. Some things were killed off and some could not make the necessary changes to survive in their current circumstances...survival of the fittest...but again, that does NOT negate the possibility of creation. We've changed just in the past few hundred years, since medicine and such have improved, and things like hormones are found in our food. There are 6 year old children hitting puberty now because of all the hormones in some foods, and there are people living to be 100+ due to the great medicines available now, and that can be considered "evolving", because we are, more correctly, adapting to our world as we go along, as we always have. So, if you really think about it, one concept does NOT negate the other. They can live quite nicely together if the powers that be would just be more flexible about things. I could name probably 20 things that have changed about us physically since ancient times, and that is due mostly to necessity and availability of different things, but it sure doesn't mean we weren't created by something greater than ourselves billions of OUR years ago. Just try to wrap your head around the time frame issue, and it's very clear. And we, and everything else in the world, are SO complex that there is no way it just, in a totally random way,  Happened to all fall into place. Just look at what's inside an atom and you can see that plain and simple, and if that doesn't do it for you, look at everything just in the known universe. None of this was an accident, not possible.
So all you have to do is agree that we were created, and have been adapting to our situations ever since, and we have the whole thing nicely covered, and all these people that live on government grants trying to prove one or the other will have to get real jobs. They keep the battle going because it's so simple to keep people divided on any big issue. It's our nature to take sides on things, but in this instance, I think it's time we were all on the same side. We have much more pressing issues to be fussing with. This seems to me to be a no-brainer.
Just sayin'
Dragonfly Davis

Dear Chuck Lorre...

I read your vanity card recently where it said " I am so very tired". Well, that has become pretty obvious lately. Listen, you have, and have had, many shows that have lots of dialogue that has double meanings, inuendo and other forms of wordplay that were mostly thinly veiled sexual remarks, and most were okay, some even very cute, BUT...Lately, on TAAHM, you have seriously crossed the line. I realize that you don't write all these shows or maybe even check the content before they are done, but you need to start watching. TAAHM is failing now, and it isn't because of Ashton, HE is the only reason I look in still, the only redeeming quality left on the show. "Men" has always been a pretty much one trick pony and sex talk has always been part of it because it was about a "playboy and an over-sexed and under-achieving sad sack", so. BUT when two lines cannot be exchanged without SOMETHING sexual being said, that's just too much, and it's not even just the quantity of sexual material, it's the quality, or total lack of, that is disturbing me. I am not a prude by most standards, but when a joke HAS to be made, not just once, but twice about the "fact" that Allan can, well, with the help of extreme flexibility, "toot his own horn" as it were, well, that is just crossing a very gross line. Yes, I know it's a possible thing, a lot of people know that, but does it have to find itself on one of your shows? I don't think so. I didn't think Mr. Cryer could sink much lower, but it seems I was wrong. I realize his character is very flawed, but there is a point after which he's not just flawed, but sick. It would seem that everyone on the show has become a caricature of themselves, even the previously "normal" ones. Walden seems to be the only one still within the realm of normalcy, sexually speaking, but even he is slipping. I realize that in the day of Mr. Sheen, your main demographic was 18-38 year old males, and toilet and sexual humor was all that was expected, but now that you have someone NOT basically portraying themselves and there is more reason to tune in, there are those of us that could use some of the adult, but not crude, humor that we all know you're capable of. What do you say, Chuck? I miss your wit, I really do. While you're at it, can you get Mike and Molly back out of the sex sewer? That was a cute little show, and you're ruining IT little by little, too. Please stop, I'm not the only one that feels this way. We love your stuff when it's closer to our "pay grade", okay? Thanks for listening. 
A longtime fan.
Just sayin'
Dragonfly Davis

More that just Zimmerman...

 Most people know about the incident in Sanford, Florida where a  seeming "nutcake" shot a youth there for no reason other than HIS version of "suspicious behavior", which seems to, in this case means doesn't belong in this community"...at least that's how I read it. The kid was doing nothing to garner this guys attention, let alone a bullet. He was LOOKING for someone to have arrested or shot so he could be the big hero, it seems to me. And I'm sure you're already aware of this story below, so I won't go on about that, you either know or can read it here, BUT I DO want to point out something the police chief, who has stepped down for now, actually has said. Apparently he has the same feelings about "outsiders" as the over-zealous Mr. Zimmerman. I highlighted the paragraph and the particular sentence in that paragraph. I just want you to consider what he means by who BELONGS in a community. REALLY? Unless you're flashing "no doubt about it" gang tats or driving below the speed limit in a custom painted low rider late at night, OR are hanging out on a street corner wearing not much, waving at men and obviously soliciting for sex, WHO doesn't belong in any community? You ever hear of fair housing, guests, extended family, not to just say, don't be a racist? The only people that might not "belong" are trouble makers, and this child was NOT making trouble, he was walking home from the store. I think maybe Chief Lee should just STAY down after this is over, and hopefully Mr. Zimmerman is in jail for manslaughter.
Just sayin'
Dragonfly

SANFORD, Fla. -- At a hastily called press conference this afternoon, Sanford City Manager Norton Bonaparte Jr. announced that beleaguered police Chief Bill Lee Jr. is stepping down temporarily amidst growing anger over his handling of the investigation into the killing of Trayvon Martin. Bonaparte told reporters that he hoped the move would "restore calm to the city of Sanford" and help speed the case through the legal process. He said that the city has not yet appointed an interim chief.
"As a former homicide investigator, a career law enforcement officer and a father, I am keenly aware of the emotions associated with this tragic death of a child," Lee said at the press conference. "I'm also aware that my role as the leader of this agency has become a distraction to this investigation...Therefore i have come to the decision that I must temporarily remove myself from the position of police chief of the city of Sanford."
This is a developing story. Check back here for updates.
The move comes a day after city commissioners voted "no confidence" in Lee during a meeting Wednesday evening. Lee has come under increasing fire over his department's investigation into the killing of Martin, who was shot on Feb. 26 by George Zimmerman, who told police he shot the teen in self-defense, moments after calling 911 to report a suspicious person.
The Justice Department, the FBI and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement all agreed in the last week to join the investigation. During that time, local officials have been pressuring Bonaparte to fire Lee. Bonaparte told Huffington Post Black Voices last week that he was weighing all of his options, and said last night that he wanted to postpone a decision until those outside investigations into the killing and the department's handling of the case were resolved.
Local residents and community leaders, particularly in the black community, have said they have absolutely no faith in the Sanford police or Lee, who came into office less than a year ago after another scandal brought down the previous chief of police.
Chief Lee's predecessor, Brian Tooley, was forced from office last year amid a scandal involving a lieutenant's son who was captured on video attacking a homeless black man. As the homeless man lay bleeding on the ground, police officers reportedly drove his attacker from the scene. The lieutenant's son, Justin Collison, 21, was not arrested at the time. A month later he turned himself in after video surfaced on Youtube.

For years the local NAACP and others have claimed that the police protected their own and routinely harassed and embarrassed blacks. And in the last few years, some Sanford officers have displayed questionable behavior: a couple have been arrested for taking bribes and kickbacks, and one was fired last summer for falsely accusing a suspect of attempted murder. In one case, the NAACP said that an officer had refused to investigate the rape of a black woman until the organization put pressure on the department.
In the year since Chief Lee took over the department, some in the community said things were just beginning to change.

Lee told the Orlando Sentinel in June that "I hope to focus on developing partnerships with the community and continuing what they've started in their efforts of community policing: working in areas that will enable an officer to get to know the community he's working in; who in that community is not supposed to be there; work together with the community to identify problems."

The department has been criticized for several aspects of the Martin investigation.
Martin, 17, was headed back to the home of his father's girlfriend shortly after 6 p.m. on Feb. 26 after a trip to the convenience store. George Zimmerman, a 28-year-old neighborhood watch member, reported Martin to the police and told the 911 dispatcher that the teenager looked "suspicious." Zimmerman was told by the dispatcher not to follow Martin, but a few minutes after the police call, Martin lay dead from a gunshot to the chest. Zimmerman admitted to police that he shot Martin, but claimed he acted in self-defense; he has not been arrested or charged.
Officers initially told Martin’s parents that Zimmerman had a squeaky clean-record. He was arrested for violence and battery against a police officer in 2005. Martin was tested for drugs and alcohol after his death, but Zimmerman was not. Police failed to check cellphone records for Martin and Zimmerman after the shooting, according to a lawyer for Martin's family. And witnesses have said police did not return phone calls, attempted to manipulate them during questioning and have twisted their statements to fit Zimmerman's self-defense claim.
The case has garnered national attention, with protests and rallies around the country calling for the shooting to be investigated and for Zimmerman to be prosecuted

Made in America? You'd be surprised...

Just wanted to share this info with everyone...It's a clean forward from my ex.
This is a very sad commentary on the way things are getting, but unfortunately,
it's true. "Buy Savings Bonds" was a slogan during WWII to help bolster the
economy, and I think "Buy American" should seriously be the slogan now. I know
it's a small hassle to read on everything we buy to see where it's really from, but
it's also a real eye opener. Brands we've loved for years are now cutting corners
and using foreign labor, and it's actually NOT always cheaper for us, either, really.
Thanks for coming.


*MADE IN AMERICA *


I DIDN'T KNOW HALLMARK* CARDS WERE MADE  IN CHINA ! That is  why I
don't buy cards at Hallmark anymore, They are made in China and are more
expensive! I buy them at Dollar Tree -50 cents each and made in USA

I have been looking at the blenders available on the Internet. Kitchen
Aid* is MADE IN the  USA.

Yesterday I was in WalMart looking  for a wastebasket. I found some made
in China for $6.99.  I  didn't want to pay that much so I asked the
lady if  they had any others.  She took me
to another department and
they had some at  $ 2.50 made in USA .  They are just as  good.
Same as  a kitchen rug  I needed.  I had to look, but I found some
made in the USA- what a concept! - and they were $3.00 cheaper

We are mistaken to believe that everything that comes from
China  and Mexico is cheaper. Not so
One Light Bulb at a Time...

I  was in Lowe's the other day and just out of curiosity, I looked at the
hose  attachments.  They were all made in China .
The next day I was  in Ace Hardware   and just for the heck of it I
checked the hose  attachments there.They were made in USA .

Start looking, people. ...In our current economic  situation,
every little thing we buy or do affects someone else -  most often,
their job.
My grandson likes Hershey* candy .  I noticed, though, that it
is now  marked "made in Mexico" . I don't buy it anymore .
My favorite  toothpaste, Colgate* is made in Mexico ...  I  have
switched to Crest* .

You have to read the labels on everything.
This past weekend I was at Kroger.  I needed 60W light bulbs and Bounce*
dryer sheets.
I was in the light bulb aisle, and right next to the GE* brand I normally
buy --  was an  off-brand labeled, Everyday Value*.  I picked up both
types of bulbs and  compared them: they were  the same except for the
price the GE* bulbs cost more than the Everyday Value* brand,but the
thing that  surprised me the most was that that GE* was made in Mexico 
and the Everyday Value* brand was made in - you guessed it - the  USA
at  a company in Cleveland, Ohio.
It's Way past time  to start finding and buying products you use every
day  that are made right here.
So, on to the next aisle: Bounce* Dryer Sheets... yep, you guessed
it,  Bounce* cost more money  and is made in Canada .  The Everyday
Value* brand cost less, and was made in the USA *! I did laundry yesterday
and the dryer sheets  performed just like the Bounce Free* I have been using
for years,  at  almost half the price .
My challenge to you is to start reading the labels  when you shop for
everyday things and see  what you can find that is  made in the USA - the
job you save  may be your own  or your  neighbors!

Stop buying from overseas companies -you're sending the jobs there.

(We should have awakened a decade  ago....)
Let's get with the program and help our fellow Americans keep their
jobs and create more jobs here in the USA


This is me again. I have used the Everyday Value brand of several products
and it's just great, like the cleaning wipes and other cleaning products, and 
they all work just as well as the brands manufactured elsewhere, and MUCH cheaper.
Everyday Value brand can be found at all Kroger grocery stores.
I will not DARE anyone to
pass this on like the forward did. What I will do is ASK that you consider
it because we seriously don't need to lose any more jobs for people here.
Even tech support jobs are rare here now. It seems that only the banks use
people here. I needed help with my Verizon DSL the other night and called, 
and the girl was in the Philippines!! Same with so many other places. We
can't afford to ship any more jobs away, can we, really??

That's all, and thanks for reading again, if you checked this a second time.
Just hoping and sayin'
Dragonfly

Good excuses for bad behavior...not!

I keep getting pounded, verbally, by my ex-husband about the bad behavior of some of our soldiers overseas. He seems to think that it's perfectly fine to do whatever they want to because of the enormous
pressure they're under and that they should be allowed to "blow off steam" any way they see fit. 
Well, yet another bad soldier has shown up, and this time, he slaughtered 16 innocents in Afghanistan, presumably because basically he was under SO much pressure at home due to, get this, financial matters, for the most part. Well buddy, guess what? Staff Sgt. Robert Bales (you can read the article at the bottom, if you really want to) was not forced to do FOUR tours of duty OR commit this act. I really sort of have a problem with men signing up for so many tours during this sort of thing. I think maybe there is more than patriotism at work here. AND I think we'd cut WAY down on PTSD victims if we would start limiting tours in wartime arenas to one or two only. Being a career soldier is one thing, being a career killer is another. YES, I know there are many times when killing is unavoidable in war, that's why it's called war, but killing an oncoming enemy in a "it's either him/them or me" sort of situation, and the wholesale slaughter of innocents are two different things, aren't they??
They don't even know if he's suffering from PTSD or not, but if he is, I think he should become the poster boy for limited time at war. We've had enough embarrassment from our boys, haven't we? We just had that group that had their little "pee party" on dead bodies, when is enough enough??
And don't think I'm saying that PTSD isn't real, because I happen to know first hand that it is. I have suffered from PTSD since before they even called it that, or used it for anyone other than soldiers. It used to be called "shell shocked" in the stone age. I had a severe trauma at 17 when I was sexually assaulted by someone I trusted and I have lived with it for 43 years now, and I have yet to murder or pee on anyone. It is one thing to have something traumatic happen to you far away from everything you know, and another to have it happen in your back yard, almost literally. If I had been assaulted overseas, I could at least have the security of knowing that I NEVER had to go back to wherever again, and that I was somewhere at least safer, and that makes MY PTSD, at least in MY head, a lot harder to deal with than this Bales guy. He VOLUNTEERED to continue going over there. That's like me going back to my rapist's home over and over again, isn't it??
And think about this. These soldiers are supposedly acting so badly because of all the horrible things they see. Well, I watched a movie today that make me think. This movie was about a heinous series of murders and the detectives trying to find the perpetrator. Real cops, every day, see all sorts of horrors doing their jobs. So do doctors, ambulance personnel, ER personnel, prison guards, social workers, CPS workers...hell, even Humane Society workers see things too gruesome to forget, ever. Do we give everyone that is traumatized a free pass to act out any way they want to? I could have easily just told my brother what
had been done to me, where the guy worked and the rest would have been "handled", but I didn't. I lived with being so stupid for putting myself in the position to be date raped all this time, telling myself that he didn't take anything away from me because I didn't give it to him to take. I was robbed in the worst way possible. Did it scar me? Yes, and I still carry that scar. Should I have been allowed to cut off his penis or have him beaten half to death? No. There are rules that civilized people live by. Back then, there was no such thing as date rape. If a guy you knew did something to you, well, you asked for it. Had it happened after date rape was established as a crime, I would have gone straight to the police. But my hands were tied, so I lived with it and have managed to be human ever since. Soldiers DO go through a lot in war, but these days especially, they go willingly, often multiple times and if they sign up to play the game, shouldn't they be accountable to the rules? There ARE rules, and WE expect everyone else to play by them, don't we? The Geneva Convention? We hunt down war criminals, don't we?? We still hunt Nazi's, for heaven's sake, and they're ancient.
Don't let another guy get away with an atrocity because he played too long and had "personal problems", please.
Just shaking my head and sayin'
Dragonfly 
See below

He is accused of the kind of crime that makes people shiver, the killing of families in their own homes under cover of night, the butchery of defenseless children. Under normal circumstances, Americans would dismiss such an act as worthy of only one response: swift and merciless punishment.
Not so in the case of Robert Bales — at least, not for some Americans.
So far, many seem willing to believe that a 10-year U.S. military veteran, worn down by four tours of combat and perhaps suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, simply snapped. That somehow there must be, if not an excuse, at least an explanation.
Exactly what set off the Army sergeant accused of massacring 16 civilians in Afghanistan's Kandahar Province is far from clear. But already, organizations and individuals with differing agendas have portrayed Bales as the personification of something that is profoundly broken, and have seized on his case to question the war itself or to argue that the American government is asking too much of its warriors.
On the website of Iraq Veterans Against the War, organizer Aaron Hughes declared that Afghan war veterans "believe that this incident is not a case of one 'bad apple' but the effect of a continued U.S. military policy of drone strikes, night raids, and helicopter attacks where Afghan civilians pay the price." Those veterans, he wrote, "hope that the Kandahar massacre will be a turning point" in the war.
"Send a letter to the editor of your local paper condemning the massacre and calling for an end to our occupation in Afghanistan," Hughes wrote.
On March 11, authorities say, Bales, a 38-year-old married father of two from Washington state, stalked through two villages, gunned down civilians and attempted to burn some of the bodies. The dead included nine children.

In Lake Tapps, Wash., neighbors knew Bales as a patriot, a friendly guy who loved his wife and kids, and a man who never complained about the sacrifices his country repeatedly asked of him. They find it hard to believe he could be capable of such depravity.
"I kind of sympathize for him, being gone, being sent over there four times," said Beau Britt, who lives across the street. "I can understand he's probably quite wracked mentally, so I just hope that things are justified in court. I hope it goes OK."
Paul Wohlberg, who lives next door to the Baleses, said: "I just can't believe Bob's the guy who did this. A good guy got put in the wrong place at the wrong time."
Talk like that infuriates Fred Wellman, a retired Army lieutenant colonel from Fredericksburg, Va., who did three tours in Iraq. He said comments like those of Bales' neighbors and his attorney simply feed into the notion of "the broken veteran."
Wellman does not deny that 10 years of war have severely strained the service. But while others might see Bales as a wounded soul, Wellman sees a man who sneaked off base to commit his alleged crimes, then had the presence of mind to "lawyer up" as soon as he was caught.
"That may play well with certain circles of the civilian community, which doesn't understand our lives," Wellman said. "But he's going to be tried by a military court ... and chances are three or four of those guys had things happen to them, may have had three or four tours, may have lost people, may have been blown up. And NONE of them snapped and killed 16 people." He added: "It's just too easy, and a lot of us, we're not buying it."
Benjamin Busch, a Marine veteran of two tours of Iraq, wrote last week on the website The Daily Beast that he and his comrades are afraid to admit that Bales "lost his mind in war," because that "allows for the possibility that any one of us could go insane at any time, and that every veteran poisoned by their combat experience could be on edge for life."
James Alan Fox, an expert on murder, said Americans can more easily make excuses for Bales because the shootings did not occur here at home.
"Although the victims weren't soldiers or the enemy, they were civilians, many Americans ... literally distance themselves from this case, because it's so far away in a foreign land," said Fox, a professor at Boston's Northeastern University. "It's still mass murder, yet many Americans sort of perceive it differently because it is related to a military situation, as opposed to a private citizen who's murdering other private citizens."
Even some fellow warriors who deplore Bales' alleged acts suggest he should not bear all the blame.
Reacting to a New York Daily News headline labeling the then-unidentified suspect "Sergeant Psycho," Ron Capps wrote an angry piece on Time magazine's blog site.
"To our elected officials and the people who elected them: this is what you get when you refuse to do what is necessary to create and maintain sufficient military force to fight your wars," wrote Capps, who described himself as a 25-year veteran who did a combat tour in Afghanistan.
"This means everything necessary up to and including the implementation of a draft. ... The all-volunteer Army was designed as a peacetime force. It was never supposed to carry us through 10 years of war."
The killings sent Thomas L. Amerson, a retired Navy captain from Ledyard, Conn., back to the history books to explore other stains on America's military history, including the 1968 massacre of Vietnamese civilians at the village of My Lai. Too often, he argued, Americans absolve the leaders who start the wars and "invest the full responsibility in the combatants themselves and the families that support them."
"These actions in Iraq and Afghanistan have been more than a clash of combatants; they have been a clash of cultures, ideologies, and religions that has blurred the lines of right and wrong," Amerson wrote in an email to The Associated Press.
Amerson asked that Americans "hope for the safety of Sgt. Bales' family and for the ability of his wife and small children to reconcile the person they knew with the one they now face. May they be successful in un-blurring lines that society and courts will, no doubt, fail to distinguish satisfactorily."
___

The fabric of life...

I'm feeling a bit philosophical today. Turning 60 is a horrendous thing when you have basically done nothing noteworthy with your life, and have nothing going on in it in the present. Sigh, well, I had this thought in the wee hours this morning...
We worry SO much about the planet, about how we are destroying it and all. That's not strictly true. What we are doing is making it harder and harder for US to live here, that's all. The planet will go on just fine without us. Think of humankind as a giant piece of cloth that covers the Earth, and it's made of a very heavy thread count, meaning that it's rich and plush and dense. The higher the thread count on something, as anyone spoiled can tell you, the longer it lasts and the more substantial it is. Of course that makes sense, the more threads, the longer the cloth will last. Well, in terms of "since the Earth was formed", we've been here about 5 minutes, if all of time here was about an hour, BUT we have been really using that cloth hard, and harder every day. We spill on it, burn it, submerge it, shave it down...one way or another, we are constantly "pulling threads" out of this cloth by our actions. We don't care for this garment like it is of any value, we act as if when it's too used up to wear, another garment will just suddenly appear. Well, guess what? It will, BUT it may not be the sort of cloth we can wear. We could be totally allergic or otherwise unable to bear it. In fact, I practically guarantee it. This planet has worn MANY garments made from a lot of different types of cloth, and did just fine with every one. There has only been ONE that we could fit into, and we are steadily pulling out the final threads. Some, and I'm one, believe that we will have a chance at a second Eden once this ruined one has been ridden into the ground, and that's a good thing, a hopeful thing. But in the meantime, instead of continuing to rub the worn spots, shouldn't we be more concerned with patching them up? 

The planet is going to be just fine, with or without us. We can't say the same thing, can we?
Just saying'
A very old Dragonfly

Social Security, Medicare...endangered species

I was told the other day that my blogs are too long. Okay, that's an opinion, and I value most people's opinions. I will be the first to admit I'm wordy. That's sort of the bane of the writer, not being able to stop, or we wouldn't need editors, now would we? BUT, in the spirit of brevity, at least this time, I will keep this short.
The fate of Social Security, Disability and Medicare is being decided by people who have so much money that they have no real need for any of these things. Of course, your average Congressman, upon retiring, WILL take advantage of ANY and ALL perks available, as will all the other obscenely rich (due in large part to the giant raises they constantly give themselves, and other nice amenities)... The point is, people who won't NEED these things and have NO concept of HAVING to NEED them are deciding the fates of those of us who DO. I live on the rim of poverty most of the time, and I can't afford to lose any more benefits, and I know others like me who will end up on the streets, literally, if these people aren't stopped. This is the optimal occasion for the "walk a mile in my shoes" speech. 
My question for today is : Should rich people be the ones to exclusively decide what is to happen to the rest of us?
Please, seriously think about this.
Dragonfly

Why the Clooney bashing??

I check the news and the first thing is that I'm assaulted with the most hurtful ( and ignorant) things being said about George Clooney. And WHY, you might ask? Because the man got himself arrested, with some congressmen, in front of the Sudanese embassy today in protest of the way the Sudanese people are being treated. He is being bashed for being a publicity whore (he needs publicity like the sky needs more stars), NOT doing anything but protesting (he donates more money in a year, I believe, to various causes, than most of these numbskull detractors MAKE in a year, so unless you're his accountant, please shut up about THAT.) He's being ripped because ALL he did was get his face on camera, and that's all he cares about. YEAH, in this case, that's partially true, because of WHERE he was, you idiots, to bring the crisis out in the open more. IF important people are seen at the "scene of a crime" that is being perpetrated, it's WAY more likely to draw more people to it to help "solve" the crime, huh? I can pretty much promise that if it's been YOU there instead, most people STILL wouldn't know how dire a situation this is, so you can choke on THAT point, too. He's also flown to Washington and quietly spoken to the President about getting help for the Sudanese people, especially before rainy season starts. Those starving people are on a deadline there, and Mr. Clooney, unlike the goons that are bad mouthing him, KNOWS that if those supplies aren't gotten where they're needed very soon, a LOT of people are going to die.
He had a purpose today, and he achieved it....

 
The A-list celebrity made clear that his role is to shine a light on the situation, not to solve it.
"I don't make policy," Clooney said. "All I really can do is amplify the situation and help to bring a spotlight to it."

I cannot wait for unemployment to keep going down, so that more and more of the idiots that have all the time in the world to write "comments" about everything they manage to read, even though they clearly don't really understand the concepts, can go back to work and stop. What kills me the most about these people is that most are obviously under-educated, can't spell, and don't have a clue about how to see the larger picture. They grab a random crumb and think if they make a stupid enough comment, they'll get famous and get on YouTube or something. Of course, if they get famous, they'd have to give up their welfare checks, take a shower, put down the beer, and probably be interviewed themselves. And I doubt most would be willing to do that, unlike Mr. Clooney, who is busy trying to save thousands of people. He's doing everything HE can to help with his time, his celebrity status, his funds, everything he has. What have YOU done to help, redneck?
Just angrily sayin'
Dragonfly 

Who wants to pay for air??

The most basic of things is now for sale, and at a pretty price I might add. Air has not been free at most gas stations since there was "full" service at the pump. (You have to be over 40 to know this means that an actual person would come to your driver side window to see what you wanted, would take care of your fueling, wash the windows, check the tires for air (free), maybe even check fluids under the hood. (I found out years later that if a car is, or has just been, running, that the fluids will Always show as low since they are currently circulating, or coming back FROM circulating)  AND, even longer ago than THAT, boys and girls, you often got trading stamps or drinking glasses, or some other prize for coming to that station so many times, it was wonderful. Well, NOW you're lucky if the person behind the counter/glass can find the time to take your money and get the pump number that YOU have to remember to tell them, or that's another trip back up there, and that is IT. Now if you have a gas card, you can still flash it at most of the employees, and get air and water for free, but it still requires that walk to where THEY are, and wait your turn in line...sigh.
But this is not news....what I'm about to tell you may just BE.
Air is finding more and more room in our FOOD now. They are trying to make this sound like a new, wonderful invention made to make the product even more tasty....BAH.
First is Hershey Chocolate, they now have TWO products out, a chocolate bar AND kisses that have air bubbles in them!! And they refer to them as "delights". Well, they're LIGHT alright. For the same price as a complete, full-on KISS, you're getting the teenage virginal version of a kiss, FOR THE SAME PRICE, and you're getting at least one third less chocolate, maybe more. Same thing with the bar. These adorable (or at least that's how they're marketing them, caverns in your candy bar makes it considerably lighter on the actual goods your paying for!! And then there are English Muffins. Thomas English Muffins are pretty good, but the "nooks and crannies" version is NOT a real, whole muffin. It is, after splitting it, a partial muffin bottom, and a miserable little flap for the top. Know why?? Because they "give" you all these marvelous "nooks and crannies' for your butter or whatever to hide in, that's why.  Does anyone else remember when you had to use a fork and I mean all the way around a muffin to split it, and when done,you had TWO complete halves to spread whatever on. With these N & C muffins, you can barely even make a breakfast sandwich with an egg and sausage. Now you can still buy the store brand or the wonderful Orowheat brands and still get a great, full-size muffin that is sturdy and has some substance, but start paying attention to more of your regular food, and see if you don't see differences. My oatnut bread, which I toast on the darker side (otherwise you basically just have warm bread) used to be able to stand up to margarine and peanut butter, but now collapses as if it's a punctured balloon. Saltines and chips and cookies are thinning out, too, you will notice. But we are paying the SAME amount of money, OR more.
I really like the Tilapia fish now available, but if I were the paranoid type, I'd swear they managed to bio-engineer a fish with the least fleshy flesh possible. I mean it's a wonderful, lightly flavored fish, but good grief, you'd have to eat twice as many pieces of it to get as full as you would with, say, cod, another white fish. There is just nothing to it, substance-wise.
There are other things, but if you pay attention, you'll start to see it yourself.
Even "extra large" eggs seem to be the OLD size of regular eggs, and regular eggs are possibly being laid by either very young chickens, or very ambitious pigeons.
The only thing that seems to be better for time, for some unknown reasons, is almonds. You can buy a pound of them, and flavored, for $4 now. They are no longer the BOSS of the nut world. They seem to take turns, nuts do. Right now, it seems to be walnuts and pecans, so grab the almonds, and btw, pistachios, while they are low on the nut list (unlike me) and enjoy. Did you know almonds not only lower cholesterol, but also have calcium,for those of you, like me, don't care for milk. I DO eat yogurt, but I apparently need more, and about 20 almonds a day does the trick, it would seem. GOOD deal, at last.
SO, make sure when a company offers a new "delight", that it's not half of what it used to be for the same price.
Just shoppin' and sayin'
Dragonfly

Last ink I give this fool...

This is the last I'm going to speak about this guy Rush Limbaugh, because, as we all know, any publicity is better than none, right?
NOW, and I can't imagine that he didn't think of this lame excuse before, Limbaugh is blaming rap music, Don Imus and everyone he can find that has used inappropriate language for HIS. Is he THAT easily manipulated that what others say influences anything that HE says? If THAT is the case, he doesn't need to be on TV, radio, or any other social media, does he? As his sponsors are clearly saying,NO, it doesn't, bless them all.

Here's the thing, Rush. Even though I think some of the things said in rap music are sickening and reprehensible, and just more fodder for disrespecting women in general, they don't have the same sponsors you do. I really wish they DID. I can't wait until the need to degrade women in what I would loosely called 'singing" is over. Aren't they bored with it yet? Haven't they pretty much called women everything possible already. They are all just a bunch of pathetic parrots now, BUT I have to say that if the women that allow themselves to appear in these disgusting videos would have a bit of self-respect, the "songs" would have to stop dead, wouldn't they? Think about it, ladies. Being willing to do what you do in those videos pretty much bolsters what these men are saying about you, doesn't it? If it walks, quacks and dances like a slut....well, what are we to think? I know it probably pays really well for a minimum of actual work, but then, so does prostitution, right? I'm not saying that you are anything but ladies trying to survive here, but you ARE helping the cause of totally disrespecting women, okay? This in no way negates the very personal attack that Mr. Limbaugh launched against Ms. Fluke. He apologized, but ONLY long enough to then try to justify what he said, huh? If you try to justify your deeds, then you aren't really sorry for them, are you? At least the rappers have dancers that pretty much back up what they are rapping about, no justification needed. No real men, or women, listen to that trash anyway. Unfortunately, young people do, and that is so sad. I can only hope that their parents set them straight about the different sorts of women REALLY out there, NOT just the ones in those videos.
But what are we to do with the likes of Rush Limbaugh and Don Imus? Exactly what is being done, their sponsors should stand up and leave, just like decent people should leave a concert that degrades women, or anyone really, and ask for a ticket refund (but better to research the "artist" beforehand...you DO get what you pay for, and if you sign up to be shocked, don't be surprised when you ARE, okay?)
Limbaugh crossed a line, and it was VERY personal. Everyone that does this should be sanctioned, just like he is being, by NOT having sponsors. He has the right to say anything he wants to, BUT WE have the right to limit his audience to people that actually pay money to go see him, or buy a CD he records, NOT on TV or radio when we don't stand a chance against such a surprise attack. Anyone that's listened to either should be ready for anything, but new listeners could be very offended, so change their venues to ONLY people willing to PAY to hear such filth and defilement, and then they won't need so many sponsors...but then, I suspect they KNOW not enough folks would show up to listen to their drivel. Say what you will, Rush, but YOU should have a warning label JUST like the rappers do. As for Imus, same thing applies.
Just sayin'
Dragonfly
IF you care about what he's trying to do now, by back-pedaling and making excuses, it's below in full.



 Rush Limbaugh has managed to cause quite a media frenzy since his offensive comments about law student, Sandra Fluke, have caught the nation's attention. But the controversial radio host, known for his conservative views and sharp tongue has claimed a defense for his actions that might just make more people shake their heads and roll their eyes: rappers do it all the time.  After Limbaugh referred to Fluke as a "slut" and a "prostitute" (in addition to a number of other offensive comments) for advocating that insurance companies cover birth control, he issued an apology saying his words were "insulting." But in response to the continued flight of advertisers from his show--a number that now totals close to a dozen sponsors--he expressed his outrage at his unfair treatment in a culture that has tolerated such language elsewhere, like rap music.  "You talk about a double standard," Limbaugh said in a post on his website. "One of the greatest illustrations of it is that rappers can practically say anything they want about women, and it's called art."  Limbaugh went on to discuss the media and Democratic party's role in the deterioration of morality in society:      Every minority according to the left, every minority in the country is a victim of a tyrannical majority. Every aspect of the Democrat Party agenda is to reverse that, and what's happening here is that everybody is allowing these winds to blow them over. And there's no resistance to it...It's the Democrats and the media that use the power of intimidation to get people to cave on their own morality, to give it up. All for the sake of avoiding confrontation or opposition.   Limbaugh's original comment about Fluke and his rapper defense are reminiscent of a similar incident in 2007 when another radio host, Don Imus, referred to the primarily black Rutgers women's basketball team as "nappy headed ho's." Imus said that the phrase "originated in the black community," citing the degradation of women in hip hop music.  More recently in December 2011, the Dutch fashion magazine, Jackie came under fire for referring to singer Rihanna as "the ultimate n***abitch." The magazine editor (who later resigned after the backlash) issued an apology on their Facebook page. Hoeke also referred to the prevalence of the expression in the media:      It was stupid, it was naive to think that this was an acceptable form of slang--you hear it all the time on tv and radio, then your idea of what is normal apparently shifts--but it was especially misguided: there was no malice behind it.   Is Rush Limbaugh simply scraping for another scape goat, or do he, Imus and Jackie magazine have a point?

Dear Mr. Limbaugh

I love that you are apologizing to all these companies that are dropping you like the rotten hot potato that you are, but your apologizing is falling on deaf ears, and do you know why? Because the public, and the businesses that backed you in the first place are actually a lot smarter than you give them credit for. 
You're like a little kid that got caught calling his sister names, and you aren't REALLY saying you're sorry for saying those things, or even to whom you said them. You're simply sorry you got 'caught", as it were. You thought you could slide by, because you're so witty and wise, when what you really are is hateful and full of vitriolic rhetoric aimed at whoever is unlucky enough to fall into your sights. Even Glenn Beck knows enough to limit his smears to companies and large generalized groups that are used to taking hits like this, but not YOU. YOU felt the need to attack a solitary young woman trying to do the right thing, which she has the right to do. You don't know her medical history. It doesn't really make a difference in your attack, but what if she takes birth control for the same reasons I did, for instance. I had endometriosis, which is amazingly painful during periods until/if you have your first child. It is debilitating and makes functioning during your cycle practically impossible, the pain I would wish on you just ONCE, so you'd know. THAT is a sound medical reason for the pills. 
Like I have said, I don't think anyone but the user of birth control should pay for it IF it is being used strictly for that function alone. That is a totally elective thing, like most plastic surgery, in my opinion, but it's something that has to be evaluated on a person to person basis, and I cannot WAIT for the male birth control pill to come out. It's a shared responsibility between two individuals, not the state, the country, or even an insurance company, BUT, if one cannot afford said medication, I DO think it is better for the insurer to cover THAT expense rather than the expense of an abortion or the ongoing care of a child not planned for. We are over-crowded enough on the planet, don't you think?
The point is that you are just saying you're sorry because you are being punished, and that's the wrong reason to apologize. If I were Ms. Fluke, I wouldn't accept your apology at this point, because it's just to get your sponsors back. Until you have nothing else to lose, or by apologizing, something to gain, I would personally let your twist in the wind until you were deemed totally unfit for ANY and all media outlets, THEN maybe I'd accept, but not definitely. You KNEW exactly what you were going to say, and felt fine saying it at the time. Only when the ship started sinking did you re-consider your horrible, hateful words, and that's not enough, sorry.
Just feeling Ms. Fluke's pain and sayin'
Dragonfly

Sometimes an idiot is more than just that...

I am rarely speechless, especially when it comes to idiots like Rush Limbaugh. Usually I just let them go on their ignorant way, hoping and praying that MOST of the population sees them as the publicity seeking nut jobs that they are, have a good laugh at their tiny, warped thought brains and go about their days....but, sometimes even old Rush, who's been annoying people long enough now with his rhetoric and obvious personal problems, goes too far. This fool called a young woman, Sandra Fluke, a slut because she is standing up for birth control. Now before I go any further, I think EVERYONE that wants birth control should pay for it themselves, just like I did for all those years, unless there is an additional medical reason to take it. I had to take the pill to control my cycles, my rampant acne, etc, but no one covered it then, and if it's strictly for the purpose of not getting pregnant, I don't think any company should pay for it now. That is an ELECTIVE thing, like plastic surgery and most dental braces. If there is no other medical need for it, why is ANYONE covering it? Anyway, back to the idiot, this is a direct quote from the article...

 "What does it say about the college co-ed Susan Fluke [sic] who goes before a congressional committee and essentially says that she must be paid to have sex -- what does that make her? It makes her a slut, right? It makes her a prostitute," Limbaugh said. "She wants to be paid to have sex. She's having so much sex she can't afford the contraception. She wants you and me and the taxpayers to pay her to have sex."

Does he know her personally? Does he know that she doesn't have a medical need for this drug? And "she's having SO much sex"? You only have to have sex one time to get pregnant, you jerk. And you don't take a pill after every time you have sex, which he might know, if anyone was having sex with HIM. Would you rather pay for her child if she got pregnant and couldn't afford it? Don't we have enough children in the world that weren't planned? And she's not getting paid anything, any more than I get PAID to not have another breakdown because insurance covers my psych meds. She is NOT profiting if her birth control is covered. Maybe she's not out the cost of birth control, but she isn't gaining anything. This was just plain out of line and how long do people like him get to rip the spotlight over to themselves before we say we've had enough of them and quit giving them the attention they so obviously crave? I know, freedom of speech. It's a good thing, and he can chatter away all he wants to, but do we have to publicize every word, or can we just pass over the more ludicrous stuff?
Oh yeah, and just for the record, Rush, old pal. A slut doesn't get paid. Ask the next pro you see to explain the difference between the two, okay?
Lord have mercy on drunks and fools, (that covers my ex AND Rush)
Just shaking my head and sayin',
Dragonfly

To slightly amend my last post...

In my last post, I tried to explain that sometimes bad things had to happen for humans to survive. ( I don't know if us surviving is the paramount goal of the planet). Since writing that, I have re-read the plans that Alberta Canada has for killing hundreds (or more) wolves. It seems that the tar sand mines are driving out the caribou, the natural prey of the wolf. It didn't say anything about killing the caribou, just that they'd be driven from the area. Well, duh. Predators go where the prey goes. Caribou are constantly on the move, and with them, the wolves. Now I'm not a naturalist or any sort of expert on this, but it seems to me that this is a case of unnecessary genocide. When the food source dries up, the wolves will vacate themselves from the areas in question, right? Why do they feel the need to kill them, unless this is just another case of human bloodlust and any excuse will do? Are they going to be paying hunters for pelts or something? How will this work? Are they going into where there is prey to be had and kill wolves that are not a danger to anyone? If so, why? Wolves don't like humans and all of their noise and pollution, they are not scavengers. They hunt, they live in groups. We're not talking about even rogue bears wandering into camps and hurting people. These wolves haven't hurt anyone, and if the food source leaves, they likely won't. They'll just move on, like so many animals do when humans come to ruin everything.
Like I said in the last post, unfortunately, until we find and make affordable to all, alternative fuels, there are going to be a lot of innocent animals killed in the name of "humanity". But in this particular case, let's look into this thing and see if these wolves are causing any problems, are likely to, or exactly WHY they are not being given the chance to move with the caribou herds. Please let friends know about this. You can start at this address....  act.credoaction.com    and look up all you can about this situation. Pass it on. If that link doesn't work, it's on my Facebook page at PamWellner, okay?
When we have NO choice, that is one thing, but when we DO, THAT creates the definition of HUMAN, doesn't it?
Just re-thinking,
Dragonfly

The oil crisis...my head is about to explode

I want to say that I'm one of those "nuts" that believes in saving the environment and everything living IN it if humanly possible, okay? I have sent signatures, donations, letters, all sorts of stuff to support saving the rain forests, owls, wolves, a LOT of natures miracles over the years, but here's the thing...Until and unless we, as a planet, find SOME way to significantly slow the growth of US, I'm afraid that everything else is going to suffer for us being here. Now, there is technically plenty of land available for everyone, just some places are not one's first choice, but COULD be made habitable, like they did for Las Vegas and a LOT of California, so space isn't the issue. What unfortunately IS the issue is that we aren't creating artificial building materials fast enough to replace wood, and we can't develop other sources of energy fast enough to save a LOT of real estate...I mean ocean space, forests, ice fields, etc. that flora and fauna alike NEED for their survival. 
The cold hard truth is, for right now, there are hard choices being made. Yeah, are SOME resources being taken or animals killed for no real reason and could be avoided? Absolutely. BUT there are just a finite number of places that can be mined for fossil fuels, and that sucks, truly. If I could have three wishes, one would be that we could all magically be able to afford electric cars AND that the power would already be available to power them. That is NOT going to happen, not in MY lifetime, for sure, but I'm 60, so maybe not TOO long a wait. Even IF they GAVE everyone an electric car today for free, we don't have the power to fuel them at this point. I don't know HOW they missed THAT little problem before they started pushing them on us. They don't seem to have a clue how this will work. They are still trying NOT to have rolling blackouts around the country just to supply HOUSES with adequate electricity. Now electricity takes either coal or wind to create, so that is not the primary reason I'm here today. The reason is because of the cars we have RIGHT NOW. It is a sad truth that we need oil, and a sadder truth is that it isn't always located in convenient places. Sometimes, and the more we use up, the more this is true, it is located in the middle of nowhere. And the middle of nowhere is where most animals try to live, as far from US as possible (can you blame them?) Now, I have just read that Canada, in an effort to find more oil "locally" so we can tell the Middle Eastern suppliers to take a giant leap, is going to be killing off thousands of wolves in the area in which they'll be looking. Reading this put a giant knot in my stomach and made me want to strap on winter wear and get up there to protest, but this stopped me...Say I'm a person with a family (more sympathetic that a single old lady), and I need gas (therefore crude oil) to get to my miserable little job to feed and clothe my family. Okay, so I have a choice, and think about this...I realize this is not unlike "Sophie's Choice" here, but this is what it comes down to...which is more important to me, my family and literally their lives, OR the wolves? Sucks, huh?? But that is where the world is now. I want to save every single living creature and plant on this pathetic blue planet, and if I could give my life so that could happen, I would happily do it, but it won't. In this system of things, and by that, I mean the pre-Armageddon and new Eden  (ask me if you're interested), these are the choices we're having to make. AND if we have to choose our families before, say in this case, the Canada wolves, which would we choose for them? Poison/ a merciful bullet, OR slow starvation? Hunters have been culling the deer, elk and moose populations forever, and the survivors are better for it, basically. I realize it's not natural selection we're talking about here, but rather unnatural selection. We were supposed to, if you're a Creationist, all be able to share the planet without problems like this, and if you're an Evolutionist, aren't you disappointed we haven't solved this problem yet?
It's simply a cold, hard fact that we are going to have to either kill or move some animals so that we can keep going, at the least until we solve this energy crisis. What I'm hoping is that science keeps viable embryo's of everything we are killing off right now so that once we HAVE whipped the issues of power AND population control,  we can bring back everything we have/will destroy. We owe nature, at the VERY least, that much. There are few things more beautiful than seeing wolves in the wild, playing in the snow, totally free, but at the price of what? We demand that the industrial community fix things so that these, and other animals don't die, and we should. BUT, unfortunately, they can't do it overnight. Major changes, whether by us or nature, move pretty much on what I call "Glacier time", which is SLOW, and that is just how it is. Some things, like natural changes and scientific breakthroughs (and the PAYOFF from same) take time, lots of it. 
Sometimes I wish this planet would shake mankind off of it like the destructive fleas that we are, and it probably will at some point,(this is a WHOLE different blog) but until then... What are we supposed to do? Be real, and honest. Real solutions to real big problems are NOT instantaneous, or pain free, sorry. Should someone have been working on this a LOT sooner? Yeah, but it still doesn't change the fact that we need what we do. So, who's it going to be? Where would you suggest they look for oil and natural gas? In your literal backyard, where your children are? Probably not. Would you leave your home to move to wherever was more convenient so that an oil rig could be put where your household is right now? Doubtful. We need to spend more time and money working on alternate methods of getting to the fuels without disturbing nature. THAT is what your new cause should be. Maybe we should stop saying DON'T GO THERE and start working on STEP CAREFULLY, huh?
Just thinkin' out loud here,
Dragonfly







 

The Warrior Within- 'Vagina Sculpture' at Wasilla High School

I posted the title just as it was on the one article. Have you seen this lovely piece of art? Is anyone that is making a ridiculous fuss over it aware that most modern sculpture like this is SUPPOSED to be evocative, make you actually THINK and see what you will in it? And are you further aware that your mind is particularly perverted if you think anything about birth is bad? The only BAD thing about the birth of something is the OMG moment YOU had because it might just, mainly because YOU made such a big fuss over it, have to have "the talk" with your kid because of it. OH NO! The inhumanity of it! We MUST cover up everything that resembles a vagina, birth  and anything else that could hasten THAT horror show. And I say horror show because if you are freaking out over this thing, you have NO business explaining sex, birth, body parts or anything else delicate to your kid, you'll scare them to death. So what if this is depicting the "birth" of two warriors from a slit-shaped opening in a rock? Have you taken a hand mirror and looked at your vagina lately? it does NOT look like this rock, or at least shouldn't. YES, something is emerging from something else. WHY does your mind automatically go THERE? Being in the kitchen with you when you pit a peach, an olive or prune must be very traumatic for anyone there. Does the removal of an avocado seed with a knife remind you of a C section? Come on, really? People, grow up. The emergence of something beautiful from something else beautiful is something to enjoy. Like a butterfly emerging from a cocoon, right? 
Some people can see something sexual in anything, and because THEY are obsessed, they assume the rest of the world is, too. What about a hot dog in a bun? Should they be banned, too. A hot dog bun looks about as much like a vagina as a peach or that statue, and OMG, we ALL know what the hot dog means. The vendor of this treat should be immediately banished to pervert jail (we won't even go into all the things you can "squirt" or put onto this obscenity and what THEY could represent...and then of course, there is the corny dog, slathered with mustard, oh dear lord, where will it end???? Oh and tacos, EVERYone knows what a taco really is, right? We are ALL of us running to hot dog vendors, and making runs for the border to partake in the symbolic eating of genitalia. And when the hot innards of a churro come spewing out, is THAT supposed to represent sperm?? I mean, a churro is long and cylindrical, right? So it MUST be a penis. My brain is about to explode with all the references I'm trying to come up with to show these paranoid people just how silly they are being about this. I cannot go on, if for no other reason than talking about all this food has made me hungry ( and no, I do NOT mean horny). Oy veh, 
Just sayin'
Dragonfly

My dear Mr. Clooney

Today is an open letter that I pray gets to George Clooney through the electronic miracle of Twitter. My hope is that someone that follows me will re-tweet to someone who follows them, and so forth. IF this does get there, this is my message and hope for George.

Hi, I will try not to take up too much of your time, but I wanted you to know that you are not even close to being alone with the issues you are struggling with. I too suffer with chronic pain, in too many places to even bother mentioning, but I do it every single day. I have considered NOT suffering any longer many, many times, but for some stupid reason, keep going. I don't take anything for my various pains because I could not function otherwise, which, I would imagine is part of why you no longer do. 
The other, and more profound, reason that I am writing to you is the statement you made about being alone in a crowd. THAT touched a big nerve in me. I feel MORE alone WITH a lot of people around me than when I am actually alone, mostly because the more people that are around me, the less I can be myself. I can be what everyone expects me to be...witty, urbane, charming, and most of all, amusingly funny. That seems to be my job since I was a kid and used humor as a shield against the bullies. Very few people realize that I suffer from not only bipolar disorder, but panic and anxiety issues and agoraphobia. That is because I have learned to be a consummate actress. I can SEEM to be just fine and very friendly for short bursts of time, but I can't maintain it for long, and the older I get, the harder it seems to be to do.
I watch you at these big events, with your seemingly charming new girl at your side, and I see the weariness in your face. I know that a part of you enjoys these things, mainly, it would seem, so you can continue your little "battle of wits" with your good friend, Brad. I think that it's stuff like that ongoing pranking  that actually keeps you going some days. I think it's the quirkier things about you that make you the happiest and the most willing to keep doing what you do. And I know that acting is a job, it's not the easy treat that most think, it is work. And it is work that you are brilliant at. Nice being able to "put someone else on" for a while, isn't it, and not be yourself? I get that.
You do a lot of philanthropic work that I know you must enjoy doing, but I know also that it doesn't totally fill the holes in your life, either. I understand that you have not ruled out marriage and fatherhood, that's a good thing, but George, know that although those are worthy goals, and I'd love to know that you could pass your wonderful thoughts and actions on to another generation, also remember that you should try to be really, truly comfortable before you do this.
I won't keep you any longer except to say I love the work you do, onscreen and in the world, I look forward to hearing new good things about your life, like Ms. Kiebler seems to be for you...and if you ever want a kindred spirit to talk to, you can always talk to me. Just tweet me and I'll send you my email address, or leave a message here for me. That's all for now, thanks for the indulgence today
Dragonfly

Whitney, Adele and Matt...oh my.

I have come to realize something. This country simply cannot exist without stuff that is either SO trivial or so NOT our business, and I mean every single DAY. 
First up, and I do NOT mean to alienate ANYONE today, but I feel that my job here when I signed up to do a blog was to do at least one of three things while I'm here. Either to make you laugh, think or smile (there IS a difference between laughing because you're amused or smiling because something rings true or you just like it), and today I hope to make you think, so...first up is Whitney Houston.
I am SO weary of people slinging the word ICON around like it means something totally different. The closest definition that I could find that wasn't religiously based was "picture or image".  She was/is NOT an icon, the implication being that she was more than a mere mortal, which she certainly was NOT. Was she a great singer, yeah, sure. She was a very talented girl and her songs were memorable, no issue there at all, but I'm sorry, once you get involved with a drug using loser, sell your family/children out for a buck while you air your rather sordid life out on a "reality" show for money to ostensibly buy more drugs while you scar your kid(s), as is obvious now, for life, you are no longer much more than any other flesh peddler who sells themselves/others for money. I totally understand being self-destructive, okay? But when you not only destroy yourself, but your kid, you are NOT to be celebrated, but maybe pitied. She had every chance to turn her life around, and didn't. She was just as determined to self-destruct as Lindsay Lohan obviously is. Do people stumble and fall sometimes? Of course, a lot of us do. BUT, the difference is that SOME actually WANT to conquer their demons (Drew Barrymore, Robert Downey, Jr, etc ), and eventually GET it and do so, and those that do NOT, like Miss Lohan and the really tedious Charlie Sheen. And yet there are those that just eat up every word written about these people. Whitney Houston's death was something of a tragedy, in that she has left some terrible ripples to settle, namely her poor daughter, who endured the humiliation of their life, and living it on TV every week. I hope that poor child ends up in a loving and stable environment where SHE can get some help, finally. The rest of it, the specials and all that, just glorify the sad person Ms. Houston had become, and all the bad stuff gets swept under the rug, and suddenly she's some sort of angel. It's so sad that the world has to come to a screeching halt because someone that has chosen a destructive life died, is all I'm saying. 
And then we have Adele. If there is a worldwide shortage of false eyelashes and hair extensions, falls, tracks and other hairpieces, I know where they went. Is this girl a talented singer, yeah, she's good, but again, she's being elevated to ICON status, and WHY??? There are plenty of singers JUST as good or better. Okay, she's had some serious health scares (which were really none of anyone's business), and apparent issues with a very absent father (again, SO not something she should be airing in public), and does she really have SO little faith in her fans that she has to make such a deal about this "sex tape" thing? Does it actually SAY it is really HER? I couldn't find anything that explicitly said so, just implications, but maybe I'm not that good at researching porn. And if she is SUCH an angel, WHY in the world would she buy a ridiculously huge mansion when she doesn't need it and could be doing something philanthropic with a little of her money? Sure, it's her money to spend any way she wants, but man, WHERE do so many famous people GET the "handlers" they have to help them decide what TO do and NOT to do with themselves and their fame and money? And are they SO oblivious to the world that they cannot SEE the bad decisions these people are making for them. Be grownups, for heaven sake!! Michael Jackson, as messed up as that poor soul was because of his father, went on some simply obscene shopping sprees in his time, BUT before he did that, he did a LOT of good with his earnings FIRST. As much crap as happened to him as he grew up, and as much as it warped his self-image, He still managed to live his life with some dignity. Was he eccentric, YEAH, of course. Did he harm anyone in the process but himself? No. His kids grew up NOT in the spotlight that he could have so easily exploited for money, but didn't, and because of that, they seem pretty well grounded and normal. I do not wish Adele any ill will. I am happy to see someone NOT a size 0 making good in the world, that's terrific, but all the hoopla, take about half the eyelashes and hair OFF and just be a really good singer, would you?
As for Matt Bomer. He has come "out". Was it a surprise to anyone, really? I've seen models on a catwalk with more manly walks, come on now. At one point, in the entertainment industry, it WAS considered brave to admit you were gay, NOW it's a snooze. In the movies and on TV, gays play straight, straight play gay, Aussies, Irish and others play American, and American's play everything. No one cares any more. At least all he really did was acknowledge his family at an award ceremony and didn't make a DEAL out of it, and for that, I thank him profusely. Someone famous actually downplayed something!! He simply thanked his family, and you were to take it from there. I applaud the minimalist approach for a change.  Apparently someone gay took a cue from Neil Patrick Harris, less is more. 
Am I interested in other people's lives, sure. Famous people, of course, it can be interesting. But their dirty laundry? Well I have seen enough "mighty" fall to know that EVERYONE has problems, even the rich and/or famous. I'd much rather hear about the good stuff they do than the embarrassments they make of themselves and all the time and money wasted in glorifying it.
Sorry I'm on a rant today, but just sayin'
Dragonfly