Alabama is all one color~ CAMOFLAGE UNDER RED WHITE AND BLUE

Still on track for the BLOG LIKE CRAZY CHALLENGE

This is my 6th day in a row to Blog!  

Tuesday, Nov. 6 -- Blog the Vote! Simply write a post explaining to your readers why you vote, or if for some reason you chose to sit out this election.

Somewhere along the process of child rearing I have failed. I have failed miserably. I have a son who just turned 19 years old. He was awarded scholarships in music as well as academics to Tulane, University of New Orleans, Berklee School of Music in Boston, Belmont, Middle Tennessee and The University of Alabama, I think he got some offer from all that he applied for. (Note I said “he applied for”, I had nothing to do with any of it, he did it all on his own, and all was based on his performance at an Alabama public school.) 

He had his first beer the week before college, at the advice of someone he took on “her” word and drank one so he wouldn’t be in her self-proclaimed wise words a “two beer queer”.  He plays in a rock band, a non- drinking, against drugs musician. Now that is something I haven’t known in my family line. My dad was a rocker, in all that entails. He still is.  My boy, values the quality of the sounds he creates with his voice and keyboard over the way he feels. I love that in the musician! 

My grades the first semester at Bama were more on the “social grading scale”, he looks like he is going to pull out straight A’s. Anyone who has karaoked as many know I love to do and thought the quality gets better with one more beer knows exactly what I am talking about!  Guess I have to admit there is NO failure there in his ethics as far as being socially responsible and professionally accountable.  

But somehow while I was sharing with him my “wisdom” that life was about more than just pursuing that one thing you THINK you want to do all of your life, that you want to find a place that nurtures your social development, that offers opportunities to expand your horizons, that stretches your boundaries (thus my encouragement through his Honor’s scholarship to spend some of that time abroad) I forgot to tell the boy the importance of REGISTERING TO VOTE.

So here it is, a year after he turned eighteen, and he is a non-registered voter American. Mr. Apple Pie, blonde hair, plays music by ear, drives an American made automobile and this year he will not be making a contribution to the country that provides him with the freedom to choose tomorrow to be a punk rocker, a rocket scientist, or a government recipient, should he elect to live either of those dreams.

We have hosted two year-long foreign exchange students (at different times), each of them patriotic about their own countries of Norway and Germany. Sometimes I wonder what my children would take to share about the USA if they studied abroad. 

I know he has been busy and all making straight A’s at his first semester of college, weathering freshman pledge activities and adjusting to being on his own, but if he doesn’t register in the next ten days (which would only make him ready to vote next go round), I have to say I will be THAT mom (the one my sixteen year old daughter begs me not to be, whatever THAT means) and drag him by the ear all the way to the court house. At least this time of year he can’t say the lines were too long.

I have told him there can be no excuses and no complaints if you don’t take the time to voice your opinion on the issues with your vote. Was the boy not listening?  We discussed this  more than once over our many around the table dinners before he left the nest. 

“It wouldn’t matter anyway, Mom,” he said.

This appears to be the opinion of a generation unwilling to vote. I guess they realize the power of their generation’s affect as shown on U-tube and Twitter, instantaneous should some crisis arise. They are a generation that thinks between the four years and expect that it will “all work out”. 

He is a prayerful boy too. Perhaps he knows something I do not know. 

Jim Rogers, is even saying this election means nothing. He sees things on a more global perspective, our little bow tied hot shot on Wall Street who is now moving from starting the stock exchange in Austria to transforming Russia's economy. 

Maybe I am making a big deal about nothing.  But just in case, I will be headed down to vote today. The amendments that I have to read and try to siphon through to their real meaning already make my head hurt.  (this link is to the conservative voting suggestions by the way.)  

Three days ago I would not have posted recommendations on my blog..would have "remained neutral, until I heard some of the most RACIST ads on the radio I have ever heard, calling Alabama Landowners "plantation owners trying to keep us down")  THAT is what is wrong with this country. I am a land owner and I take offense at that statement. Because I want to have a rural experience for my children I am categorized as something that happened almost a hundred and fifty years ago?

I will say I am more concerned over the voting for issues over banking changes and Forever Wild being given no restrictions that other government agencies are than the school language that has been so taken out of proportion in recent days.

You can also note that the recommendations for the Conservative voters attached to the link above leave some of the amendments up to the voter and is not a CHECKLIST~ but information stating both opinions. THIS is how the country should vote...based on their OWN ideas and knowledge. 

Jim Rogers is a small town boy from Demopolis, Alabama who attended one of those Marengo County public schools and got his start before becoming one of the "top experts on the American economy" collecting cans at the stadium to sell. He doesn't apologize and take handouts because off the state of his education, he did something about it!

We have a BLACK president. THAT school issue should have been handled during OBAMA's term!  HE had every chance to turn it around. They are in worse shape than when he started. He did NOTHING so now again they stir the pot and try to pit black and white against each other. The amendment isn't even worded to be affective as the commercial is stating. 

The people like Obama who say lets show THEM and that "VOTING IS THE BEST REVENGE" are NOT unifying this country! 

I watched a documentary on the Afghanistan WAR last night. There were soldiers, fighting together for this country, cold, scared, sometimes in the other extremes carrying hundreds of pounds through 110 degree heat to stake out Al Quada. Some had been there three and four times.

TOGETHER SIDE BY SIDE, BLACK, WHITE, HISPANIC, all in ONE COLOR~ camoflage fighting TOGETHER UNDER ONE FLAG, RED WHITE AND BLUE.

WE ARE THOSE SOLDIERS. We ALL have to fight TOGETHER for the future of AMERICA as a whole. 

I watched The Candidate last night with Will Ferrell.  Amazing, that a movie so stupid and so meaningless is a pretty true indicator of what our country has become. On a lighter note, in the movie, the good guy still won! 

Guess it is up to each of us to determine which guy that was (in the movie) and will be.

Stars and Stripes WATERCOLOR

Why Are We So Unhappy to be Americans?

I would make comments, but

Jay Leno puts it into perspective and makes us think about our country's negativity. That's right, Jay Leno!!

According to a web circulated email, Jay Leno wrote this; it's the Jay Leno we don't often see....

"The other day I was reading Newsweek magazine and came across some poll data I found rather hard to believe. It must be true, given the source, right?
The Newsweek poll alleges that 67 percent of Americans are unhappy with the direction the country is headed, and 69 percent of the country is unhappy with the performance of the President. In essence, 2/3's of the citizenry just isn't happy and want a change.
So being the knuckle dragger I am, I started thinking, ''What are we so unhappy about?''
Is it that we have electricity and running water 24 hours a day, 7 days a week?
Is our unhappiness the result of having air conditioning in the summer and heating in the winter?
Could it be that 95.4 percent of these unhappy folks have a job?
Maybe it is the ability to walk into a grocery store at any time, and see more food in moments than Darfur has seen in the last year?
Maybe it is the ability to drive from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean without having to present identification papers as we move through each state?
Or possibly the hundreds of clean and safe motels we would find along the way that can provide temporary shelter?
I guess having thousands of restaurants with varying cuisine from around the world is just not good enough.
Or could it be that when we wreck our car, emergency workers show up and
provide services to help all, and even send a helicopter to take you to the hospital.
Perhaps you are one of the 70 percent of Americans who own a home. You may be upset with knowing that in the unfortunate case of a fire, a group of trained firefighters will appear in moments and use top notch equipment to extinguish the flames thus saving you, your family , and your belongings.
Or if, while at home watching one of your many flat screen TVs, a burglar or prowler intrudes , an officer equipped with a gun and a bullet-proof vest will come to defend you and your family against attack or loss.
This all in the backdrop of a neighborhood free of bombs or militias raping and pillaging the residents. Neighborhoods where 90 percent of teenagers own cell phones and computers.
How about the complete religious, social and political freedoms we enjoy that are the envy of everyone in the world?
Maybe that is what has 67 percent of you folks unhappy.
Fact is, we are the largest group of ungrateful, spoiled brats the world has ever seen. No wonder the world loves the U.S., yet has a great disdain for its citizens. They see us for what we are. The most blessed people in the world who do nothing but complain about what we don't have, and what we hate about the country instead of thanking the good Lord we live here.
I know, I know. What about the President who took us into war and has no plan to get us out? The President who has a measly 31 percent approval rating? Is this the same President who guided the nation in the dark days after 9/11? The President that cut taxes to bring an economy out of recession? Could this be the same guy who has been called every name in the book for succeeding in keepi ng all the spoiled ungrateful brats safe from terrorist attacks?
The Commander-In Chief of an all-volunteer army that is out there defending you and me? Did you hear how bad the President is on the news or talk show? Did this news affect you so much, make you so unhappy you couldn't take a look around for yourself and see all the good things and be glad?
Think about it...are you upset at the President because he actually caused you personal pain OR is it be cause the "Media" told you he was failing to kiss your sorry ungrateful behind every day.
Make no mistake about it. The troops in Iraq and Afghanistanhave volunteered to serve, and in many cases may have died for your freedom. There is currently no draft in this country. They didn't have to go.
They are able to refuse to go and end up with either a ''general'' discharge, an ''other than honorable'' discharge or, worst case scenario, a ''dishonorable'' discharge after a few days in the brig.
So why then the flat-out discontentment in the minds of 69 percent of Americans? Say what you want, but I blame it on the media. If it bleeds, it leads; and they specialize in bad news. Everybody will watch a car crash with blood and guts. How many will watch kids selling lemonade at the corner? The media knows this and media outlets are for-profit corporations. They offer what sells, and when criticized, try to defend their actions by "justifying" them in one way or another. Just ask why they tried to allow a murderer like O.J. Simpson to write a book about "how he didn't kill his wife, but if he did he would have done it this way"...Insane!
Stop buying the negativism you are fed everyday by the media. Shut off the TV, burn Newsweek, and use the New York Times for the bottom of your bird cage. Then start being grateful for all we have as a country. There is exponentially more good than bad.
We are among the most blessed people on Earth, and should thank God several times a day, or at least be thankful and appreciative.
"With hurricanes, tornados, fires out of control, mud slides, flooding, severe thunderstorms tearing up the country from one end to another, and with the threat of bird flu and terrorist attacks, "Are we sure this is a good time to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance?"
Jay Leno
2007



This was circulated at least into our little corner of the world here in Alabama by:

Best Wishes
Henry Arnold
12 Chalgrove Gardens
London N3 3PN
Tel:+44(0)208 346 1674
Fax:+44(0)208 371 0607
Mobile:+447831 133111
e-mail:henry.arnold@genesispharma.co.uk