By now if you have been reading any of my posts you know I write about whatever is on my mind. Today I was the crazy woman that left her purse in a Wal-Mart shopping cart. When you see the size of my purse, you will be left wondering how on earth I could misplace, lose, forget such a mammoth being. Rest assured it is possible. The following is a letter that I just sent via email to my local paper the Sturgis Journal. I hope they publish it.
One "Mammoth Purse" that seems to take up the seat of the wing back chair!
To Whom It May Concern:
I am writing in regards to an incident that happened today when I went to our local Wal-Mart store. Upon leaving the store and filling my cart I drove home only to discover that I didn’t have my purse. My purse is huge, so it is amazing that I forgot it in the cart. In all fairness to myself, I do usually carry a small purse with a strap that goes over my shoulder. This purse was new and I was unaccustomed to it and obviously distracted when I left it in the cart. I drove home and went to get out of my car only to discover my purse was gone. I checked the trunk and realized that to my horror I’d left it in the cart. I immediately returned to the store thinking about all of the credit cards that I would have to cancel and all of the other important things that were in my purse like my license, social security card and cell phone. My thoughts were just rushing through my head with the hope that a Good Samaritan had found my purse or it was still in the cart.
Of course when I got there the cart was empty. I went inside and the “greeter” hadn’t seen it. I went to the Customer Service department and much to my amazement a Wal-Mart employee had discovered my purse and took it into the store. I was so relieved and thankful for that employee. Nothing was missing and I really wanted to leave a reward. I was told that it is against store policy and the person would not be able to receive a reward. They could lose their job. The Customer Service people also could not remember who turned it in.
So, here I am on my computer trying to find a way to thank this wonderful person. This person needs to know that without them I might not have been able to even go to my family reunion this weekend as I wouldn’t have any credit cards, money or even a license to get there. So I thank you from the bottom of my heart and I want to also thank all of the Wal-Mart employees that assisted me on my search for my purse. These employees were all top notch all the way! This could have been a real nightmare for me but instead I’m left with a wonderful feeling about that special person that was thoughtful enough not to ignore a purse sitting in a cart. Times are tough for people right now with this poor economy. It’s easy to become a pessimistic person. When something like this happens, it makes me keenly aware of the goodness of people. This Wal-Mart employee will not soon be forgotten and their good deed is more than enough to cause a chain reaction.
Sincerely,
Katie
This is just a reminder to let everyone know there are angels among us that take care of absent minded people like me!
This is Omar when he was young. He may be 15 here but I am not sure.
This is an artist's skectch from the court case.
I must admit I have a difficult time comprehending the case of Omar Khadr, who is charged with killing a U.S. soldier in Afghanistan. I doubt there will be much written about the case as it is troubling because of the defendant’s age at the time of the alleged crime. I am not a fan of Guantanomo Bay. I think it is wrong to cart people half way around the world, lock them up in pens for years and then try them as enemy combatants. After President Obama was sworn in he had promised to close Guantanomo Bay. It hasn’t happened and it probably won’t happen any time soon. No one seems to know what to do with these people. They are living in endless hell, far from home without a trial. Our system of government is based on a right to a speedy trial. These people do not have these rights nor do they really have any rights.
My problem with the Khadr case is the age of the “enemy combatant” at the time of the crime and the fact that he is actually being charged as an enemy combatant. He was fifteen and the killing happened in the war in Afghanistan back in July of 2002. I have a problem with the age of this child at the time of this crime as well as the charges against him based on when he was 10. I find it rather alarming that a 15 year old was transported across the world to a little island and detained. I don’t know how we as a country get by with some of this stuff. I am not saying that the child did not do the crime. Frankly, I don’t know what he did.
Omar was born in Canada. His father is Egyptian and his mother is Palestinian. They moved to Pakistan when Omar was four. His father was thought to be an associate of Bin Laden by the U.S. government. His father, Ahmed, moved the family back and forth between Canada and Pakistan. During the 1995 Egyptian embassy bombing Ahmed was arrested. The prime minister of Canada at the time was Jean Chrétien who negotiated Ahmed’s release. After his release he moved his family to Afghanistan. Omar was picked up after it was suspected that he threw a grenade at soldiers when they were sweeping an area that they thought was an Al Qaeda compound. One soldier died and three other soldiers were injured. Omar was shot three times. His father was killed in a battle a year later.
The thing that I and others find most concerning is Omar’s age. Omar has allegedly been recruited by Al Qaeda at a very young age. Some people feel he should be classified as a soldier rather than an enemy combatant. This article is interesting and explains more as this was first brought up in 2007. http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2007/04/terrorist_or_ch.html
I’m not going to pretend to have any answers here but this seems to me to be wrong to have dragged this kid away from his family and placed half way around the world to spend his young years in a pen at Guantanomo Bay. I’m not sure I understand either of these “wars” to begin with as neither one is a declared war. They are both considered military engagements. It seems to me we want special rules as though we are at war without actually declaring war.
Most people think we are at war because we call it war but we are not in a legally declared war as Congress has not declared war. They did pass an authorization that allowed President Bush to invade Iraq. However, they have fallen short to declare either war which I think puts all of these Guantanomo Bay detainees in a strange place. I’m not a lawyer. I don’t have a clue about all of the legal mumbo jumbo. However, I am an educator and I can’t believe that a country based on freedom could think that a child who was obviously influenced and possibly trained from little on to perhaps be a soldier could possibly have had an opportunity to choose any other life for himself! What choice did Omar have growing up? Could he have run away when he was four before his father moved from Canada? When he was ten was he expected to do anything other than what he was told by the adults that took care of him? If a child grows up knowing only this hate is he responsible for what he may become? This is a question that should be debated.
Our society here in the United States of America gives all kinds of breaks for the powerful. Should Laura Bush have gone to jail for the death of her friend when she was a teenager because he died in a car crash she was involved in? Mel Gibson and Charlie Sheen both seem to have terrible tempers where they allegedly assaulted their mates. Charlie bought his freedom and Mel may or may not even be charged. The children of the rich and famous continually break the laws and get routine little pats on the hand for their misbehavior. Yet, when this child, who grew up knowing nothing of what most of us consider to be a “normal” life commits a crime, he is charged as an adult, enemy combatant, and then transported away from his family and friends half way around the world. I think what we did by that act alone was horrible and could be considered child abuse. If we do this enough we will probably create even more monsters that hate America. As I said before I don’t have the answers but I know we must educate people and talk about all of the choices we make as a country. A normal life may never be an option for Omar but how many other children like Omar are still out there? We must make a decision about Guantanomo Bay and we must live up to our own ideals as a country!
This morning I decided to give my ten month old Australian Shepherd, Brodie, a shower. Giving Brodie a shower is not an easy task as he just hates it. I tricked him and picked him up and put him in the bathroom and quickly shut the door. I felt victorious at this accomplishment. I know he felt tricked but I had won! After I was done and dried him off with a couple of towels I let Brodie loose and he went hog wild running around the house. I took a shower myself and went back out to see Brodie only to find him contently licking his paws and happy as can be. Now you’re probably wondering what the point of all of this is but I am getting to it. When I thought about Brodie another thought came to my mind. I thought Congress is just like Brodie, my puppy!
Now you’re probably wondering what on earth I could be referring to so I’ll get right to it. When you have a new puppy, it is all cute and wonderful. There’s nothing that puppy could do that is going to really irritate you because you know it’s a puppy and it’s oh so cute. A new congress is pretty much like a new puppy. I remember when we were all very hopeful about the new congress that came in with President Obama. Many of us decided to give them some leeway as we knew they had to figure things out and get used to the job.
There are other ways that congress is like a new puppy as well. Puppies are pretty destructive. They go on search and destroy missions where they might eat your shoes, bras, remote controls, you know, anything plastic. Congress goes on these same missions trying to decide how they can tinker with some of our favorite government programs like public education, Social Security, and Medicare. You name it, they’ll find a way to chew it up and make it worse.
Puppies are pretty unmanageable just like congress. When Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid try to assert themselves and take control, they usually find out how hard it is to tame that little beast especially when he might have just peed on your leg. Sometimes you love the congressman’s unruly moments like Representative Alan Grayson when he pissed on the Republican’s collective leg.
It’s okay as long as it’s their leg and not mine. He was such a stubborn little puppy when some Republicans asked him to apologize for his outburst the previous day. Here is his response to that, ever the cute little frisky puppy!
They just won’t listen to him much, like your puppy when he is distracted by something outside and you’re calling him back!
Congress also seems to have to be nurtured just like a puppy. They need lots of perks from lobbyist to keep them contented. They need lots of money and pats on the back from their constituents to keep them in office. They also seem to like to run in packs and play with the “big dogs”. You know those people that hold so much power and wealth. Those puppies love to be entertained so they hang out with Hollywood hounds as well. They really need a special amount of care much more than you and I do as they are quite temperamental just like a puppy. While middle class household pay has stayed stagnant, congressional pay just gets better and better. http://www.thecapitol.net/FAQ/payandperqs.htm
If you read through the link closely you will discover the untold perks available though staffing and pension as well. This puppy is getting the royal treatment.
Sometimes when you are expecting your puppy to be up to something because it’s too quiet in the house, you only discover that your puppy is dog tired and sleeping. Congress has those days too when you think they are up to something and they end up doing much of nothing. I felt like this during the whole health care debate. It seemed like a lot of fuss and much ado over nothing. They’re bark was much bigger than their bite on that one. Many of us out here that are more progressive were expecting so much more from this puppy than what we got!
This puppy called “Congress” never met a defense bill they didn’t like. Just like my puppy dog they are always willing to go to battle for some stupid idea they sink their teeth into. My puppy dog battles with the cat, which is hilarious, because she is smarter and quicker than him in many ways. Snow Bella, my cat, actually loves Brodie. They’re crazy about each other just like the special relationship the Department of Defense has with Congress. Much like Snow Bella, the D.O.D. always gets their way and Congress ever the stupid puppy pays for it! The one left out of this puppy and cat game is the American people. Congress gives us those puppy dog eyes and we fall for it every time.
I know it’s tough to say, “No!” to a puppy as I have had to do it many times and it’s not an easy task with my puppy dog, Brodie. He looks so cute and innocent most of the time! Congress can look that way too. However, it’s time we tamed this puppy called “Congress” before they get so out of control that they destroy some of our favorite things. This puppy called “Congress” is going to be a two year old pretty soon, so it’s time for them to grow up. They may have a rude awakening come November when some of us decide to turn this puppy back into the pound and try out a new puppy. I’m ever hopeful that all of us working together can teach this puppy dog some new tricks. I continue to email and call my representative and senators eagerly waiting for them to jump at my command. It hasn’t worked too well so far but I am determined to get some results so I will keep on training this puppy and hoping for the best! I encourage all of you to join me to put the pressure on Congress. The only way I think we are ever going to get a different result is to keep in “training” mode. I don’t feel I can let up for a minute with Brodie because as soon as I do there goes another pair of new shoes. With Congress it is the same way. We must be diligent with our training. We must let Congress know who the boss is and who is paying their bills! Our collective forces have to be much greater than his pack animal mentality. They may be running with the pack of power and money but we are running with a pack of potential voters. Without us there is no other pack for Congress to run to, so let’s take control of this beast and show him who is boss!
I was talking with my son who lives near Chicago about Detroit and I told him I couldn’t see why Detroit is still called “Murder City” when Chicago seems to be riddled with murders. Chicago has somewhere in the neighborhood of 3 million people, Detroit has less than a million and New York has about 8 million. I know there is a new show coming out on TV called “Detroit 187”. Some aren’t happy with the show about crime but I say if they film it in Michigan, I’m all for it, anything to give someone a job. I tried to check into the murder capital thing and I discovered something very disturbing.
I don’t know if Detroit is the murder capital but I do know that a murder map I found for New York was very upsetting to me. According to the map it looks like young “Black” and “Latino” men are being killed left and right. http://projects.nytimes.com/crime/homicides/map
These are the stats: 61% of the victims are Black, 27% Latino, 8% White and 3% Asian. The majority of both the perpetrators and the victims are male and young, you know, like under 34.
I find all of this very troubling for our country. Our children are supposed to be our best and brightest. Children aren’t born criminals. Like an animal in a cage, treated with abuse, sometimes they will turn to violence. I’m appalled that more isn’t being done to curb this violence and start these young children out on the right track. No parent wants to raise a killer. I cannot believe that this is something born in these people. I do think there is a deep sense of hopelessness in our youth that are stuck in these huge cities with very few alternatives to make money except for selling drugs or joining the military. I’m sure they can make more money selling the drugs or doing some other illicit deed than getting a real job. Real jobs are hard to find any way, harder if you have little education and no familial structure to help support you.
There is a vast divide between the rich and the poor in this country. History books try to cover this up with platitudes about how this is the “Land of the free.” Much chatter is devoted to the “rags to riches” stories that are really just a bunch of bullshit like a carrot on a stick. It’s something to appease the masses to make them feel that they too can become rich some day. Some maybe make it, but for the most part, “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.” We can see this in all aspects of politics and entertainment. We see legacies from different families for both those areas. If you come from the right family, you will excel and be given special opportunities. However, this isn’t just true with these two areas. It is also true with most small towns and suburban communities. We hire our own in these places and teacher’s kids and cop’s kids get breaks that aren’t necessarily available to the very poor.
I mention all of this because I wonder who is there for these young men in these cities to mentor them and give them special treatment. Probably the only people left are the lowest elements of our society. I am troubled that these young men seem to be “throw away people”. Nobody seems to care about them. If politicians cared, they would devote more money to education, cleaning up the blight in these big cities, and doing everything possible to promote a strong economy rather than just building more prisons and hiring more cops! Where is the outrage of this blight in America? Who cares enough about our troubled young Black and Hispanic men to actually do something about it?
So many people have touted the Bush tax cuts and so many loved Ronald Reagan but I find it interesting that the income gap between the rich and the poor is at an eighty year high.
If you look at it, the incarceration rate really went up since the time of Reagan. I really don’t know what to make of this except that I also know that the rich got richer and the poor got poorer during this time.
There has to be connections between all of these factors. I don’t have all the answers. I just feel that our country has some pretty screwed up priorities. It seems like we’d rather be perpetually at war, feeding the war profiteers and the oil industry or extolling the virtues of the wealthy through shows like Donald Trump’s “Apprentice” and “Extra” that follows around the rich and famous to give us a birds eye view of their celebrity life; than educating our youth and creating a safe, productive environment where we can all have a piece of the pie. Our number one priority in our country should be our youth and it simply is not!
You know that feeling you get when you meet someone and they seem really great, perfect in every way and then you find out that they have just been playing you? Well, I’ve been there in real life much as poor Sarah Palin’s daughter, Bristol, has been when she found out Levi was just not that much into her. No, I’m not going to pick on poor Bristol. After all she is just a kid looking for love. What I’m upset about is the creative programming of two shows that I was meant to fall in love with, HGTV’s “Design Star” and Bravo’s “Work Of Art. Both of these shows have the makings and potential of something really creative and exciting to watch for people like me, creative types that don’t give a damn about reality TV! I was in love at the opening credits only to discover that underneath that great façade was some stupid businessman running the show.
The shows both started out with great promise with an individual challenge where you could get a sense of each artist/designer’s concepts and thought process. Ever since those first shows we have been “treated” to numerous group activities that are most artist’s “HELL”. Each show has been more interested in personalities that don’t get along then in real design work. It really is disappointing to watch these group challenges after group challenges with snarky comments from the judges week after week. On HGTV why did they have to bring in Donald Trump’s son, Donnie Jr., to Design Star last week?
This year is so uninspiring. In past years the designers were forced to be more creative. This year I have yet to witness any real creativity on Design Star. I think the fault has to do with the direction they have decided to take the show. The three judges, Vern, Geniveve, and Candice are all very talented artists and designers. They must be in hell themselves for having to judge this “crapfest”. So what’s wrong with the show? The “challenges” are so lame that the designers have not been able to show any real creativity. I feel like they walk through a store and just pick out a bunch of stuff and put it in a room. There is no thought or imagination! There is no style. It’s so boring. There is nothing notable about any of the wall treatments. Nothing wonderful is built because most are incompetent like the guy that stapled his art project to the floor. I could go on and on. I think they need to have a better art direction or director and fire the producer running it.
The new Bravo show, “Work of Art”, started out just great. I was blown away and just loved the show. It has steadily gone down hill since because the show continues to put these artists together on lame group projects, much like Design Star, that end up looking disastrous. It too is more interested in showing us the “dynamics” behind the artist’s personalities then really letting us into their creative minds. The show pushes the two “characters” Miles, the man that sleeps all the time and Jaclyn, the, oh so “modest” female that is constantly undressing for the camera in her artwork. These two together won the last competition supposedly because it was so cerebral it was over most of our heads. I laugh at the thought of that! I know all of these artists are talented in their own way. I think the show needs to allot a bit more time for the art challenges and it needs to let the artists do individual art challenges. Last night they finally did an individual challenge that left me wondering what the judges were thinking when they kept Peregrine who created a work of art that had drawings that really had no artistic value whatsoever. Well, I digress as judging art is so subjective that it isn’t fair for me to put my input on this part of the show. We don’t all appreciate the same types of art.
I feel cheated as the show started out great. The first couple of shows I just loved. Since then the show has gone progressively down hill. I’ll watch it until the end but right now I am disappointed as the bloom is off the rose and the petals are falling fast.
I really like artistic type shows. HGTV is a great place to showcase this and Bravo as well. However, there is not enough artistic programming. Most of the reality TV shows are just awful. I don’t watch them. These artistic shows have the potential to educate people about art and design but instead they end up making a mockery of it.
The other show that I like to watch in this creative vein is “Project Runway”. The new season just started. This show has been over the top creative in the past even going so far as to make really interesting clothing out of newspapers. It sounded awful but the designers were fantastic in that episode. I hope they don’t mess up the show this year like HGTV did with “Design Star”.
In the future I can only hope that people like me are hired to come up with great challenges for these artistic type shows instead of boring producers that don’t know art or artists. It’s a simple math problem as I was meant to fall in love with these artistic shows. They had me at, “Hello!” With knowledge like that most producers should be able to hold my attention by doing the proper math and giving me what I want….real art, so I can fall in “love.”
I love the “Mayhem” commercials from Allstate. If I was in the market for insurance, I might even consider Allstate just because I love their commercials. Fortunately for me I have a low cost insurance company that I would be hard pressed to leave. You can catch a good compilation of the commercials here.
If you haven’t seen the ads, you need to watch for them because they are hilarious. They are a reminder of the potential “Mayhem” that exists in our lives when we are driving our car. Too bad “Mayhem” is so handsome even if he acts deranged as real “Mayhem” is much uglier in truth.
These commercials remind me of the mayhem many of us might feel about business and politics today. Mayhem is all around us. Just think about the BP oil spill and now the Enbridge spill in Michigan as well. The problem is no one is really protecting us from it like an insurance company is supposed to do. The government keeps holding hands with BP like they are star crossed lovers and they are convincing us that everything will be okay because they got married and the baby will not be a “bastard”. No, in fact that baby has disappeared and you know that old saying, “Out of sight, out of mind!” However that “Mayhem” is going to haunt us for years to come with health and environmental issues.
Some have felt the deranged sting from “Mayhem” when they lost their jobs and their waiting in line filing for unemployment. They are put in a state of panic wondering what they are going to do. The 99ers met “Mayhem” head on and there was no insurance company to bail them out. Their unemployment ran out before they could figure out how to deal with the mayhem this economy threw at them.
The troops in Iraq and Afghanistan probably meet “Mayhem” often. He may be waiting in a roadside bomb or a sniper somewhere. The soldiers do their jobs hoping “Mayhem” stays away from them and their friends. However, “Mayhem” always finds those people that it really wants to seek and none of our soldiers are safe from “Mayhem”. The politicians don’t protect them and don’t even put forth good policy decisions that make the soldiers know when the job is really done and they can put “Mayhem” to rest.
“Mayhem” is touching all of us in some way or another. Our schools are under funded and cuts are being made that will certainly make it easier for “Mayhem” to enter the lives of our most vulnerable, our children. “Mayhem” might take the appearance of an over- stressed teacher, crowded classrooms or missing programs but “Mayhem” will make an appearance.
As we are stuck defending our homes because of cuts in police protection, be prepared to meet “Mayhem” when someone decides their business is your business. “Mayhem” happily follows the troubled and the criminal.
“Mayhem” has even entered congress. How else can we explain the fact that everything seems to be so ineptly handled? The unemployment extension couldn’t be passed until after the July 4th recess. Obviously congress didn’t feel the bite of “Mayhem” personally or they would have pushed this through in any way possible as soon as possible. The “Mayhem” that really exists in congress is the way it works or doesn’t work. When the Republicans were in power, they didn’t need 60 plus senators to get things done. However, now that the Democrats are in power, they struggle to get anything done and blame it on the Republicans. Those Republicans must be very powerful to be so clever. President Obama came into office with a boat load of people behind him. He could have done so much but he chose to shake hands with “Mayhem” and let him take over. It really is sad that “Mayhem” has taken the voice of people like Newt Gingrich.
Senators and Representatives will probably understand “Mayhem” better when they meet him in November. He’ll be smiling but they will be in the fight for their political lives as most people could care less about anyone in public office today. Would you throw a lifeline to your senator or representative? Many people think it’s time to clean house. The only problem is what will “Mayhem” like this bring us? More people like Newt Gingrich? I don’t think that’s what we need but I sure hope “Mayhem” makes everyone think before he leaves us alone after the storm!
Okay, this is another “Can You Believe This?” story. It seems that the Pentagon cannot account for 9 billion dollars earmarked for reconstruction in Iraq. Come on. How on earth do you misplace that kind of money? I only discovered this because a guest on the Chris Matthews show implied that the reason we are hearing so much about Charlie Rangel and Maxine Waters is because there are other things they are trying to cover up. This was one of those things. After thinking about it I’m left wondering if any of that money was used against our soldiers. This is total incompetence!
My gosh, we seem to have plenty of money for defense spending, Homeland Security and every other insane thing to keep us “safe” and most everything else except education. Go figure.
All of this got me thinking about the money that our federal government is spending on different programs. I figure if they have so much money to throw around in the defense department that the D.O.D. could casually misplace 9 billion how do the other departments fair? The figures are from Wikipedia and they are basically estimates as the appropriations must be approved by Congress. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_United_States_federal_budget
The biggest expenditure is Social Security but the Department of Defense is right behind it. They’re ahead if you count things like Homeland Security. The FBI falls under the Department of Justice and the CIA is kind of a mystery. It used to fall under defense but now I’m not sure how it’s paid for. With Homeland Security, the CIA and FBI there must be some duplication of services. If you keep reading you will be stuck wondering why some of the departments aren’t combined together. One thing you can be sure of is that while everyone else is worried about losing their jobs, federal government jobs seem to be growing. It seems like you can find employment in West Virginia, Virginia and even Washington D.C. I’m sure there are many poor in the D.C. area but if you have the skills it looks like D.C. is the place to be.
This post is merely meant to inform people about the 9 billion. Yes, we must keep our nation safe but when does this mission for safety turn into insanity and don’t you think it would be interesting to follow the money to all of the private sector corporations that we are feeding on this gravy train?
I know many of you out there just don’t know or don’t care. You live your lives thinking you will pay your taxes and just leave me alone but it is really our job to keep the government honest and on their toes. Otherwise, we will end up with nothing more than tyranny. I know there are many excessive links above to study and they will probably drive you nuts but the point is if we don’t do the work to research this stuff, the news isn’t going to give it to us. Investigative reporting today is a joke as most of the news outlets on TV are owned by some private corporation with an agenda. If you don’t think MSNBC is interested in what benefits General Electric then you must be kidding yourself. We must follow the money whether it is with these news conglomerates or with the government.
When you look at the pie chart it is infinitely clear that education is not a priority. For as much as the government proclaims their support of public education, they give a paltry 46.7 billion for it. If the education department lost 9 billion, I think they would notice it. The Department of Defense is so big and over grown; it doesn’t even blink an eye when it loses 9 billion. This is both amazing and disgusting. To further complicate this matter is an area called the “Black Ops”. These are secret missions. Who knows what we’re doing where ever? You and I don’t know as these missions are secret. http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2010/02/pentagons-black-budget-tops-56-billion/ You can also read more here. http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=13603
It’s easy to see why most people want to bury their head in the sand and not look up until these two wars are over. However, it’s time the American people were fed the truth about these missions, the money and what the real truths are concerning our government. We don’t have money for basic things like health care and education but we have plenty of money for anything related to defense spending. We spend far more than any other country on defense but we continue to let that bloated military spending grow and grow. We are kept afraid by politicians and they also keep us in the dark about what’s really going on. They get lobbied by the big dogs of companies that love these wars, and that’s where the real power is contained. I encourage you to read this speech by President Eisenhower and give it some thought.
However, if you want the shortened version just take this quote and think about it.
In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.
We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together.
There I am with momma holding me still. Life was uncomplicated.
Uncomplicated Katie
I grew up in an extremely large family, the child of two hard working parents. We didn’t have a lot of things like most kids seem to have today. We also didn’t have a lot of one on one “quality” time with our parents. In many ways you might think that I grew up in a deprived family. However, we never really thought of ourselves as poor and we never really felt deprived. I do remember going to my aunt’s house and picking out clothes, after her children had already picked what they wanted, from boxes kept in an extra room. I think they were donated clothes. I remember getting a jumper that I wore for my school picture. We didn’t have much in the way of toys and extras but it wasn’t that noticeable by any of us.
When we moved to Kingston I was going into third grade. I had never even been on a bike before. We didn’t even have any bikes. My sister said at one time the bikes were backed over by a vehicle and never replaced. The neighborhood girl who was a year older was very nice. She helped me learn how to ride a bike by letting me borrow her bike. I’d jump on and fly down the hill and hope I wouldn’t fall off. It was a blast and we didn’t wear helmets back then! I did get a bike when I was in seventh grade. That was awesome. I remember the freedom of riding around town and visiting my friends. We used to play games like kick the can. Sometimes at night when it was dark, we’d even play. Nobody worried about perverts back then. My parents were careful about what we were exposed to but everyone kind of watched out for each other’s children. I’m sure someone would have noticed if a stranger was around.
Summer was a lot of fun even though we worked hard. We would go back up north to Maple City. My brothers and I would pick raspberries, strawberries and cherries in the summer. Picking cherries was a dirty job and tiring too but oh so much fun. Cherry juice always dripped down my arms and sometimes itched. When we’d get a little bored we’d throw cherries at each other. I remember the scary walks to the “out house” to use the toilet. It was scary because they’re gross and I was afraid of the “Mexicans” as they spoke a different language and I didn’t know what they were saying. We were generally kept away from the Mexican laborers. You could hear them speaking Spanish but they were kept by themselves as we were kept with the other “locals” picking. At the end of the day, we’d take Ivory soap and go to Little Traverse Lake and clean up. You have to wonder about the outhouse and the cherries. We didn’t have water to clean up. Everything was much different back then. I wonder if people got some kind of bacteria from that!
My education was small town stuff. I wasn’t exposed to some things that I wish I had been exposed to such as art. That is my one real regret about my childhood. I feel like I missed something wonderful by missing all those art classes. It really is amazing that I am an art teacher and artist today for never having been really exposed to the arts in my youth. It never crossed my mind as a youngster as I didn’t even know what those things were. Art, artists, art teachers, I was clueless to all aspects of art. We did have pencil and paper and I did like to draw when I was in high school but I don’t have many real memories of art when I was young. I do remember having a watercolor set and painting many pictures of waterfalls. We visited my aunt in the upper peninsula of Michigan and I think I painted my memories. My sister says that when I was five and my grandma died I drew lots of pictures of her in a coffin.
I have memories of playing under our great maple tree with cars and other vehicles. There were roads that my brothers had set up and I’d drive little cars down them. I also remember playing soccer with my brothers but I always had to be the goalie! We also played croquet and I remember loving kick ball in school. My days were mostly filled with school during the school year and picking cherries and fun in the summer time. I had to help my mom in the house a lot especially on Saturdays. The boys didn’t do much in the house. That was the time when it was the girl’s job. Unfortunately, my sisters were ten and twelve years older than me and were mostly on their own when I was doing the majority of my housework. Weekdays I might have some homework but never remember a lot of homework. I liked reading and I remember my favorite show was the “Monkees”. Davey was so dreamy. I was more like one of my brothers than one of the girls because I have no significant memory of dolls. Besides my sister said the boys buried one of her dolls in some kind of funeral service. I had always wanted a Barbie but my mom thought they were way too suggestive. I got a fake Barbie when I was probably around a fifth grader. I had one other doll in my life and it was a baby doll. As I said, we didn’t have many toys. Our real goal as kids was to be old enough to play cards. I remember many fun nights growing up playing euchre and pinochle. When we were old enough to sit still long enough to sit through a game, we got to play cards.
Life was largely uncomplicated. Nothing like it is today. Today’s kids have a lot more pressure on them than I ever felt. I teach at the middle school level and I am amazed at the pressure our young children have on them. They have to job shadow in 8th grade. I hardly knew what a job was when I was in 8th grade. I certainly wouldn’t have job shadowed an artist as I was never exposed to any. They have to pick a “career pathway” for their classes when they go up to the high school. They have pressure to pass tests that are tied to our funding, so you know we put a lot of pressure on them when they are taking the big MEAP test. We, as teachers, don’t want them to be pressured but it’s unavoidable with the current direction of education. Many students are involved in a countless number of activities that keep their parents and families in a hectic pace. They spend a lot of time rushing from one activity to another. My family always had dinner together. Today it doesn’t seem to be a priority. Very few have much time for uncomplicated play time either. Every moment of the day is structured for them. They have less and less recess type time because more time is needed for “education”. Students don’t have as much creative type playtime like I did as a kid. They are on computers or phones text messaging each other because they are lonely. Many have never had to really and truly entertain themselves. They have either been in front of a TV or computer most of their lives. When they aren’t doing that they are playing some structured sport or other activity. Much is expected of them and I’m sure it must be frustrating at times and I think in many ways they are forced to grow up much too early.
Classes have been pushed down from the high school. Math is harder than it was when I was in school. Students at the middle school level are doing math that used to be taught at the high school level. This year at our school science and language classes are being pushed down to the 8th grade from the high school. The exploratory classes suffer because of this. Very few 8th graders will have art this year and I feel sad for those that won’t have that opportunity. There is more and more pressure to compete and the pressure can be so over the top that it can swallow up some kids. They get discouraged and drop out of school out of sheer frustration and boredom. I wish kids today could have some of the uncomplicated time that I had as a kid. I know some kids probably experience much of what I felt when I did the cherries when they’re detasseling corn but most don’t do that job. Most have much pressure to win on some team or get the grades in school. Legislators have no idea what the modern classroom is like and they don’t see the stress that much of their efforts place on these students.
I wish all students would have the time to play and create as I think it clarifies the thought process. Today kids can pass tests and perform like trained monkeys but many struggle processing the real “thinking” of life. When something happens that isn’t on the test, they struggle with what to do. We can’t teach to a test, we must teach how to think. It takes time to accomplish this task. It isn’t something like rote memorization with constant repetition. It’s a thought process and it isn’t something that is automatically measured on a test. The real test for this process is life. We all know people that could do the book stuff but fail miserably at life’s lessons. The true measure of all these tests we are giving our kids today will not be realized until these kids become adults and live their lives. Will they think they had a deprived childhood much like I did when I discovered art and wished I’d had it as a youngster? Will they be brave enough to try something new like I did taking art in college when I had never had art before? Or will they go through life doing what has always been expected of them by living their lives like programmed little soldiers waiting for their next assignment? Time will only tell
