Honesty

I was asked to write a piece on honesty. It seemed like an easy write. Honesty should be cut and dry, tell the truth, simple as that, but it isn’t. The capillaries of truth can either feed arteries, or sever them. We never know the outcome until the words flow and the reaction begins, leaving us sometimes wishing we kept our words silently dancing in our own minds. For every truth spoken there is an ear that heard, ready to make us choke on the consequences that may be pushed down our throats via our open mouths. Honesty is a responsibility that sometimes bears poisonous fruit, at least momentarily. That fruit, once fully matured, releases integrity, honor, and self respect, allowing one to stand tall and face not only themselves, but any adversary, with a clear conscience.

Fear and denial seem to be the greatest inhibitors of truth. So many people live their lives oblivious to who they are; afraid their reality will do nothing but pollute those they love. They pull out their favorite Crayolas and color the picture pretty to hide what they have deemed the ugliness of their soul.  They etch vibrant color to replace what guilt has deemed dark. The crayon seals their fate, and if they see it begin to peek through, like a rebirth, they abort what is real, once again, by adding a new layer of colored wax.

A soul dies, snubbing out the spirit of who they were created to be, choking the life out of what is real. Years pass with adaptation to the artistic print, but the feelings beneath, still profoundly inhibited, don’t die or go away. They teach, through actions, true self is unimportant. They are easily led and those who lead them, those that contain and control, are given the leash to lead, with guilt and damnation. Though their spirit is numbed and the truth is still unknown, their captors see the crack in the drawing; the emotional jailer will throw the book of Hell fire and mortification, casting one lower than the serpent of Lucifer or whatever tactic will create the most shame and guilt, to keep the “less worthy” intact and securely under their command. The weak, the crayon holders, read the book, bow their head in shame, believing they are bad, wrong, or deserve to be severely punished and caged. They live in a world where their mind is lead by other’s choices for them. They are far too afraid of change, strength, or the rewards of simply being self loving enough to say: I am me.

Sadly, the choices these people have made for themselves slaughter the very crux of life’s intention. They live on their knees, begging forgiveness, for the lies they live. They don’t see or recognize, through their conditioning by their captors and their abusers, that the only real sin, the only real punishable issue of their life, is the sin against themselves. Yet, they don’t inhibit the strength to feel worthy of reality. They strengthen the lie, in their minds, under the terms and conditions of commitment, when, in reality, a commitment based on a lie, continued on a lie, is the very disgrace they think they are avoiding. Commitment becomes the glass mountain to hide, justify, and mask what is really simply fear, lack self respect, and insecurity.

The ring leaders of the weak also hide behind the premise of love, devotion, and righteousness, when in reality; they are living their own lie, controlling others out of their own fear, insecurity, and dishonesty. They, too, are internally ugly and have drawn their own pictures. Each character is expected to follow the etched road to Oz to validate the righteousness of the controller’s life. When one character steps off canvas, they are damned, not because they are wrong, but because the controller fears the wax has began to melt exposing what is real underneath their artistic fantasy. Their betrayals are more serious than the follower. They painted their character as the supreme, the good, the just, creating themselves “better than.” They lead through deception, enacting vile laws of devotion and penance. When questioned or exposed, they hide behind the self portrait of perfection, knowing the lies that live inside. They can’t take responsibility; they cannot admit any wrong doing that will weaken the stance of the almighty self-righteous controller. Out of fear of losing control of the unit in which they command, they hide behind the Bible, or some other equally vicious weapon, to cast punishment on those that may begin to question.

Wearing the cloak of deception under the premised fear of, “what will people think of me if I am true to myself?” invalidates the essence of human existence. The consequences to being true to yourself is self respect and with self respect we find we can love ourselves, warts and all, and only then we can free our own spirit.

In The Name of Jesus

Article first published as In The Name of Jesus on Blogcritics.

I couldn’t sleep last night. I tossed and turned, thinking of everything from “the 6 second rule,” to the Bible, and the facts, or less than facts, which back the words scripted, bound in leather. Due to the political affiliation of fundamental religion, the heavy God theorem, I thought of the depth of the question: What would Jesus do? I usually hold particular politicians responsible for using and manipulating the God fearing. Last night, my head spun with the fact that the politicians only have the power the people give them. The hypocrisy-laden fundamentalists create the fertile ground of tyranny against the Jesus they pronounce as their savior. They march, donate, and vote to pass pro-Yahweh laws, criticizing and passing judgment, supporting laws that prohibit one’s own free agency, ignoring their own God with their profound judgment. It is these very same people who would crucify Jesus Christ, once again, with their self-righteous belief and their values taught from the pulpit of man. Jesus would once again be shackled and nailed to the cross, or maybe just held and tortured, without charges or trial, in Gitmo, by those who claim to believe in him the most.

Let’s begin with thou shall not kill. People picket clinics with painted signs bearing this commandment. They lobby for anti-abortion laws, trying to rob the people of God-given free will. They try to deny the right of choice promised by God’s will of choice. Under the premise of doing God’s work, they pass judgment. They claim it isn’t right. It’s murder. Yet, out of the other side of their mouths, they support capital punishment. They vote in favor of crucifixion, time after time, as if their form of death by man is different. They also send off their young to war, again supporting violence and death by the hand of man. They vote on the side of their Lord for man-induced death. Thou shall not kill wasn’t meant just for robbers who break into your home at night, or for unborn children; it was meant just as written: don’t kill, plain and simple. I guess they decided to modify those words, putting God in their terms, not themselves in God's. Christian? Laughable. I don’t remember a single Bible story where Jesus ever raised a weapon, not even to save his own life. He didn’t gather a violent army to protect himself against the Jews who were casting stones at him. He didn’t create a political party to outlaw the behaviors he deemed violent and unnecessary; he shed his blood to save those who didn’t know any better. The Bible-righteous should know this better than any of us, but some of us don’t need to focus on a two-thousand year old book to understand the Jesus principle, the people principle, also known as the human condition.

I would also like to know where the anti-poverty votes come into play in the Bible. I don’t know of a single case of Jesus walking away from someone hungry, sick or cold. He didn’t ask them if they paid their taxes. He didn’t cry out: “All you want is a handout and why should I have to pay for you to have food, shelter, or healing?” He simply fed the hungry, clothed the cold, and healed the spirit of the leper. There was no condemnation of their class position, no questions asked as to how they got to where they were, no judgment passed, and certainly no self righteous ego that led him to believe he was any better. Again, he didn’t create an army to hide the crumbs of the crust that society had left behind. He simply lived what he was trying to teach to the world, he reached out and cared for those who needed, without question or ridicule, shedding his own blood to mask the sins of those who were too ignorant to grasp it, begging: “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.

I don’t understand how the biggest Bible believers miss this point. I don’t understand how they can vote for politicians who put far more priority on military spending than on the people, far more than other countries; and when cuts are needed, they vote against the people.

Man preaches his personal beliefs from the pulpit to the minds who have lived in a box for so long, believing every word spoken, that they have forgotten how to think for themselves in their own chosen darkness. They use the Bible to levy war and hardship on those who are less fortunate. They vote on the side of societal control. These votes show no real belief in the Jesus they proclaim to love, for with each vote they desecrate the blood of the true meaning of Christ, just as did Pontius Pilate or the Jews, and in the same manner, I must say. The congregation votes, upon that preached word, casting stones for their own quasi-salvation, against the free will of God, but the box they have allowed themselves to fall into, keeps them in the darkness, unable to see the truth beyond the book.

I guess it all falls into play. The Bible, written by man, by those in power to control societal conditions of the time, continues. History repeating itself, over and over again. It is those same beliefs, in the day of Jesus, which led to his crucifixion, and it is those same hands, in our modern world, that would crucify him again today if he were to stand up for the people. If Jesus were here today, what would he do? Would he stand for the corruption of big business? Would he choose to vote to pollute the land on which he walked? Would he speak out against collective bargaining? Would he publically demean people for their sins? Would he cast stones upon the poor, the elderly, the children and those in need, all the while holding hands with the super rich who say: “To hell with them?”

To you fake Christians, who vote against all that Jesus Christ stood for,I leave you with this quote from your own Bible, Matthew 25:35-40:

For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you did it to me.’

Remember that when you paint your signs of disgust against those you don’t understand. Remember who Jesus Christ was. He had no malice and no prejudice against anyone, not even those who nailed him to the cross. Have the courage to step outside the box, think with your own mind, free your own God given spirit to learn the truth, and know the only damnation in by Jesus is authored by man. When you understand that, you will then be free of the guilt and shame attached to salvation and you will then truly know that salvation was granted from the blood Jesus shed, even to you as your hand continues to drive the nails against him.

What would Jesus do? He would shed tears, along with his blood, knowing that his agony was in vain.  Would he still beg his Father for mercy? Would he still utter the words: Father forgive them, they know not? Trouble with that is, you do know better, but you fell to the mercy of man.

Till the next time, Amen.
Pam

Food in America: An Entitlement?

Article first published as Food in America: An Entitlement? on Blogcritics.

America has sold itself as a loving and giving nation. We feed and rescue the less fortunate on a global status. Our television broadcasts shows of starving children. The malnutritioned children, with swollen bellies, cry out in filthy, bug ridden, exploitation. Our tears fall. We dig deep in our pockets, to send whatever we can, to make ourselves feel better. We shake our heads in pity at life in third world nations. All the while, we don’t realize that starvation in our own country is growing. It isn’t aired, there are no global donations, no adopt an American child, picture enclosed, programs for our hungry and homeless. Yet, as we send donations to rescue the less fortunate in other countries, we try to cut funding for our own, as we scream, Get a job!

So many Americans believe there is no reason for American starvation. The starving Americans are at fault and they need to work. That’s the solution. People refuse to look at the total picture, and when the evidence is put in their face, they close their eyes and turn their heads while uttering: It’s because of Obama.

Somewhere between breaking collective bargaining and a desperate economy, we have come to believe that a $10 an hour job is sufficient. (A $10 an hour job falls $1 below the national poverty line.) The mindset is gratuity, period. We defend the fifty year high of corporate profits, and bash the president for the equally high unemployment rate.

Doesn't the reality that 46,405,204 Americans are collecting food stamps convincingly paint the picture of poverty in our nation? For some, the visual is overweight, lazy, black, Hispanic, Arabic, drug addicted, people who are baby machines, kicking out children to earn money on the system. Others believe massive fraud is taking place; people aren’t entitled, they are raping the system, cheating. These things are simply untrue. The fraud rate is down from 56 percent to 1 percent. That’s statistically insignificant. Meanwhile, one in five people struggles with a shortage of food. One in three is eligible for food assistance, but doesn’t apply, probably out of false pride, shame.

Even many of our best educated, struggling to repay crippling student loans, find themselves below the poverty line: there are 293,209 people with Master's degrees and 33,655 PhDs dependent on food stamps! We have underemployed people trying to support their families on minimum wage, burdened with paying child care, medical care, and transportation costs. Every single mother struggles; many are earning minimum wage or less. Even if they are lucky enough to receive child support, still they can’t afford to buy food for their children. They count their saved milk, bread, and egg money to put in their gas tanks to make it to their low-paying jobs. These are not lazy people who can be put in a color class. They can’t be put in a class of white/black/Arab/ or Hispanic. The fact is they are Americans who would starve without the food assistance program, no matter how hard they try to work their way out of the hole they have been pushed into.

Although there aren’t any numbers I can point to to prove it, I think it’s a safe bet that the majority of food stamp recipients would gladly take a job that would give them the ability to feed their children and handle all of their other living expenses without having to deal with DPS. We are Americans; we don’t want to admit we have to use the system. We hang our heads in shame, blaming ourselves for our personal failures, don’t we? There is no shame to be had. We are loving people. We will care for our children at any and all costs to ourselves. That’s what we do as parents.

We are not responsible for this crisis, this deep, very serious recession which is growing uncomfortably close to becoming a full-blown depression. The current president isn’t responsible for the lack of job creation and the rising level of poverty. The EBT card is the only thing that shields America from the shame of 1930’s food lines. We are in serious trouble.

To find out who is behind this economy all you have to do is see who is benefitting from it. The proof is in the pudding. Our manufacturing jobs have been outsourced to those around the world who are forced to work for slave labor wages, without environmental protections or benefits. Health has boiled down to work at your own risk. After all, why should corporations clean up their acts to provide a safe environment, that isn’t on their money making agenda. They hide behind the premise of the costs of collective bargaining and unions. The truth is, without collective bargaining and unions we are re-creating the pre union condition. Are we really ready for that in a country that claims to be civilized? Again, we are falling behind the countries that are truly free and civilized.

The corporate money machine is fertilizing the ground for slave labor. Look at our economy. Look, open your eyes, to who is making billions, as jobs dwindle. They are supposed to be our job creators, not the president, and if you follow their profits you will also follow their employment demise. They are holding jobs tight in their little hands, making our nation fall to its knees before third world countries and their slave wages. Some of you, way too many of you, have come to believe in their deceptions. Half of Americans have swallowed the Kool Aid. You blame the poor. It isn’t the lazy, black, Hispanic, lowlifes who are looking for a handout who have drained our jobs. To find the perpetrators of the state of our economy, just like finding a drug lord, all you have to do is follow the money trail. Where ever it leads, you’ll find the kingpin. That is who is truly responsible for the crisis we are in.

The Kool Aid full, constantly cry out, “Why do we have to pay to support our social net?” Shouldn’t the bigger question be: “Why do we have to pay, shed blood, watch our children go without, watch our citizens suffer from homelessness and poverty, so you can line your pockets and buy our governments? Why should we have to pay to continue to gag from the chokehold the rich have on our throats, choking away our freedom and our ability to take care of our own?" Isn’t that a much better question to ask? Isn’t that a stronger moral question to ask? After all, seriously, all you religious folks need to ask yourselves, "What would Jesus do?"

It’s very sad to see America fall to the premise that capitalism and free enterprise have the right to mold us into a slave society. American capitalism once held a standard that has disappeared. Our democracy was based on shared profits, enabling all to grow. Now, big business takes the money and runs with it, creating no jobs, and we feel we are indebted to them for any crumb they may throw our way. I don’t understand.

I remember, when I was the in fourth grade, Ms. Sechrist taught us that in our lifetime we would suffer the loss of the middle class. She told us that we would live in an America ruled by the rich, which would create a two class system: The rich and the working poor. How did she know that over 40 years ago? Ms. Sechrist was obviously a very smart woman.

So, the next time, America, when you cry your tears of sympathy for the starving African child, remember that the same circumstances may be happening to a poor American child, next door, or down the street from your very own secure life. Remember, when you open your mouth to stuff it with some goody you purchased at a high end bakery that a child is going without formula somewhere near you. Remember, while you curse rage upon our own starving, that you, too, are only a paycheck away from the same poverty you demean. Eat well.

Wake up, America!

Pam

About that Romneycare

Article first published as About That Romneycare on Blogcritics.

I had to take a break from writing. The Republicans have Tim Taylored the spin machine, and just as all of Tim’s supped up creations, it is out of control. While the people are focused on some lame ruling somewhere, big bills are being signed without any common person’s knowledge. There are so many things I could write on, but these things are flying so fast, I don’t know where to start. The rapid fire of the Billionaires Club may stun me for a second, but I will overcome the dizziness. Eventually, I will cover all of the bases. I refuse to become a part of their plan. I refuse to let the lies fly by, without sight. They may appear blurry, but I still see them. Today, as I promised many, I am addressing the recent Supreme Court ruling on the Affordable healthcare Act.

I have read many things regarding Obamacare. I read, time after time, that the political people are exempt. Well, Hilary Clinton had a perfect healthcare plan which opened the same insurance to all that the political base shared. We all see what happened to Hil. There has never been a doubt that Obama was going to put together a healthcare plan. Voters, you get what you voted for. I don’t think his plan is the best, Hilary’s was much better, but the truth is, we need a healthcare plan in this country. We are the only leading country that fights it. I know the Republican base is crying, kicking, and screaming, like the sore losers they are, but we have to continue to move forward. We grow stagnant and barbaric without forward growth.

Of course, I fully understand the power of the insurance companies, the pharmaceutical companies, the medical profession, and the big business behind them. I know it’s going to crimp their style, just a little. Like every big issue in America today that splits our country, it leads us right back to the billionaire's club. They so don’t like being told no. To them I say: bummer dudes get over it.

As for Romney, the puppet Pinocchio of the billionaire's club, how dare he speak out about Obamacare when he is the master of forced healthcare? Why aren’t people aware of Romneycare? With Romneycare, we, the entire United States tax payers, pay taxes that cover Mitt Romney’s healthcare plan in Massachusetts. Fifty percent of the costs are paid back to his state by, yep; you guessed it, the American federal government; you and me. Of course, he raised taxes to put his healthcare plan into action. It was the largest expansion of Massachusetts Medicaid, ever.

Mitt does give three choices, but those aren’t plans you are able to choose, they are plans that are assigned, based on qualifying income. This is all run through the nonprofit sector (which I found absurd) of Blue Cross.

Under Master Pinocchio, all Massachusetts residents are required, by law, to be insured. If a resident chooses not to seek coverage under one of his plans, then they are fined $1,000 dollars a year.
So, for me to hear Mitt Romney talk against universal healthcare, I want to spit his hypocrisy right back in his face. It shows his puppet status loyalty to the club that is funding his presidency. How can you stand, knowing you created much of the same plan as Obama, then talk against it? It certainly shows who he works for, doesn’t it? A man who can be bought to the point of selling out his own convictions is not a man I want for a leader. Then again, who did he prostitute himself to to secure his governorship? That is something I may look into.

When the facts are examined, without the Tim Taylored spin machine, America’s state of health is in shambles. We are a leading country that falls short, drastically, when it comes to our healthcare. I hear people, all the time, talk about how our health system is better than anywhere in the world. I can’t believe they think this. It is a pure fallacy. There isn’t a bit of truth to it. Our state of health is deplorable matched to our 1st world status.

America is 48th out of 222 when it comes to infant mortality. Infant mortality shows the overall health of our nation. We fall below Taiwan, for Pete’s sake. Our life expectancy over all is 70 years old (67.5 for males and 72.6 for females.) We rank 24th. We fall 14th, or last, on the countries rated for preventable death. This is what superb healthcare is? Not by any broad scope of the imagination.
Our medical costs are astronomical.

I remember twenty years ago, my son was born with a hole in his heart. The pediatric cardiologist charged almost $800.00 dollars per office call. That didn’t count the ultrasound. My cost was only $20.00, because of insurance co-pay, but what if I didn’t have insurance? What if my son fell in the crack between too much income for Medicaid and not enough income for health insurance?

Today, if it weren’t for Children’s Special Care Services, which is a form of Michigan Medicaid, my daughters would have been buried long ago. Am I looking for a handout? No, I’m grateful. If it weren’t for this social net my daughters couldn’t survive. They both suffer from juvenile onset diabetes. I pick up monthly supplies that would cost about $400.00 per month just in co-pays. The true costs, with insulin costing over $130.00 a vial (and they get 15 vials per month, each,) would be financially crippling. That’s just for the insulin alone, not counting all the other supplies that go along with diabetes. I do have to say, there was a time that I could go to Windsor and purchase the insulin for $17.00 a vial, same brand, same insulin, but George W put a stop to that. Why? I wonder. Oh yeah, American free enterprise.

I had a dear friend, a very successful makeup artist for the movie industry, Lynn Campbell. Lynn was born with congenital heart issues. She married, and divorced, losing her instate medical coverage through her husband. She couldn’t find another insurance company to carry her with her prior condition. She needed new wires in her pacemaker. That surgery, along with serious leg surgery after being hit by a taxi in New York, wiped out her savings. No longer able to work while still healing, another health issue popped up: she needed a heart valve replacement. Without any money to pay the hundreds of thousands in American medical expenses, she was thinking of moving to France, for there they have superb universal healthcare. Living in L.A., her time was growing short. She spent a lot of time trying to get state coverage. After many denials, finally, her surgery was covered, maybe too late. She had the surgery, but died from an infection due to the surgery, and malpractice due to the lack of administration of antibiotics. The malpractice was blatant, but the caps and regulations inhibiting us from suing, another George W implantation, rendered nothing for her loss.

So, before people whine about Obamacare, think about what you are really saying. Do I think American’s should be required to have insurance or pay a fine, of course I don’t, no more than I think they should have to pay the Department of Treasury in Michigan for a traffic ticket, or wear a seat belt, or do a lot of things we suddenly have to do. Personally, I think the attack should be levied against the medical industry to bring down the costs of care. Nobody wants to talk against free enterprise. We can cap income on athletes, but not on our medical profession, interesting. We can throw a lid on malpractice, so the guilty go free, but we can’t cap our pharmaceuticals and our medical services? We can, we just continue to vote in favor of free enterprise. This isn’t democracy, this is capitalism.

The people cry out on the tax issue. The issue is, as with any social net programs: “Why should we have to pay for someone else to have insurance when we have to pay for our own? It isn’t fair.” Well, to those of you who simply can’t get it, here is your answer: Who ever said life was fair? Deal with it, get over it, and pride yourself for being able to help those less fortunate.

I wonder when the people are going to open their eyes. Take off the blindfolds that the billionaires have wrapped around your heads. It hasn’t only inhibited your sight, but it seems to have cut the oxygen from your brains, as well.

We have a former GOP spokesman saying healthcare is a reason to draw our guns and to revolt. We have the conservatives saying Roberts isn't fit for the Supreme Court, now, because of epilepsy medication, and then we have the presidential candidate, Mitt Romney, speaking out against Obamacare when he was the first to put mandatory healthcare in the works in Massachusetts, making all Americans responsible for the health of those in Massachusetts.

When you speak out to wage civil war all in the name of free enterprise, we must seek out the reasoning behind it. The words aren’t to create a free society, don’t be fooled, those are words that are simply spoken to give even more control to the billionaire's club (I do not use that term lightly; there really is the Bilderberg billionaire's club.)

The chatter of taxes on the middle class feeds the outrage that divides our country. Divide and conquer is a very old and reliable tactic. The club loves the division, they know exactly what they are doing, and they are laughing at their ability to buy feigned intelligence, almost subliminally, that is gaining power to strangle the real intelligence in our country. They are creating the minion class who will fight for rights they will never achieve.

Let’s overthrow the government under the premise that the Supreme Court doesn’t count (unless it’s in their favor,) we are Communist due to healthcare, and God only knows all the other extremist jargon the far right will come up with. Beware of those who use middle class taxes against you, when they are the corporations that can afford to pay, yet pay nothing.

I really wish the fundamental Republican base, the ones who aren’t eligible for membership in the billionaire's club, could look beyond The National Enquirer type political sites, like The American Thinker, and see the facts that stand independent of any political affiliation. They don’t seem to be able to do so.

Maybe they were stung by drone mosquitoes.

Till the next time....Over and Out,

Pam