The Blog is Back !!!
Today is April 9, 2012. I have not posted in many months and find it is time again to begin again. My journals and other projects seem to come and go. It is an election year and I think I will document my thoughts about this process. I do feel an obligation to say a few things about myself. There are some of you who do not know that I am and old lady of years, 1935 was a good year. I am older than most trees and younger than almost all rocks.
I have had some life experiences that will color what I say. I grew up with my grandparents and learned the values of the depression and old time religion. I lived in a time that men were drafted and came back ready to face life. I marched with Martin Luther King in the fifties, I demonstrated in the seventies for women's rights, and I worked on electing Obama. I spent three years in Saudi Arabia and traveling to ten countries most were Islamic. I taught cross cultural survival, Shari'a law as it applies to health care, and management in a multi cultural setting. I traveled in all states surveying or consulting in over 700 hospitals. My thoughts and beliefs, politically, are based on my experiences. We are all prisoners of our own experiences. I will remain a prisioner unless you help me escape.
I am quite distressed that many people, even most people, cannot discuss politics without it being arguing. I learned very early in my educational life (in high school in Louise Smith's senior English class and virtually ever class at Duke), that healthy exchange of ideas and beliefs is one of the things that made this country great. It was the one thing that made us so different from many other civilizations. Being able to hear someone else in intellectual exchange is what makes me great. We do not seem to be able to do this anymore. We have become so POLITICALLY CORRECT that we cannot even talk to our own folks about the issues. Seems people are so afraid that they will offend they remain silent. Now here comes my favorite quote....
“The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who in times of great moral crises maintain their neutrality”. Dante
This quote has been paraphrased by many. Substituting the word SILENCE for neutrality. But you get the point. Most of the silence is based on fear. That others will take it out on us. They wont continue to be our friend. The list goes on. It is a sad time when there are those who are actually afraid for their life. To me the scariest thing in the world is limiting my freedom of speech.
Of course, we must all be responsible when we hold forth with our opinions. We must to the best of our ability search for truth and talk in truths as we know them. Being responsible in regard to our facts, to me, means that if you watch Fox you must also watch MSNBC. If you listen to Rush you must also listen to Michael Moore. If you think that a certain person would be a good president, then you have knowledge of their values and abilities. You must seek out the news on PBS, Al Jazeera ,BBC, as well as the ones we know so well. You must have read the Bible and the Koran if you want to tell others what either of them teach.
My blog has turned the corner to seriousness, controversy and generally stirring shit. It will hopefully be enjoyed by folks of all ages. I would love to see the set-in-their-ways people to get un-sot. I will promise to offend all of you and every politician. Every post will not be political, some may just be nonsense.
Things to Think Upon...for today.
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