Excelsior

I'm sure you've seen the Kony 2012 video by now. It's just one of quite a few problems I've seen in the last few weeks that I feel need to be addressed. We as a people, a nation, and a world seem to be heading in reverse to a less tolerant less intelligent world. I don't think anyone planned it that way. People are so emotional about some subjects and lazy about others that it makes for a nice blend of ignorance and hate.

Kony is a killer, undoubtedly. However, he is not unique. Saddam Hussein, Kim Jong Il, Osama Bin Laden, Joseph Stalin, The Ottoman Empire, The settlement of the America and eradication of the natives, and countless other occassions and people that we may not even be fully aware of. People got it in their head that Kony is something special. That this kind of thing doesn't happen everyday. So, when a page shows up on facebook and all they have to do is click "like" it makes this person so easy to hate, so easy to "fight". But there really is so much more to be done.

All this week I've read countless articles about all the hoops women may have to jump through to live a life that's only half decent. If a woman gets put on birth control, which is the responsible thing to do if you don't want to live in the middle of a crowd or to have a baby, some group of judgemental people will call her a slut. If she's not on birth control she runs the risk of becoming pregnant, not because she's a slut but because people only need to have one sexual encounter to become pregnant. We've got sixty year old millionaires making decisions for women of all shapes, color, and financial statuses. A lot of these men can't get along with their own wives, let alone their mistresses. How can they understand a woman well enough to make such huge life altering decisions? There are so many of those same men that seem to think The Bible is the beginning and end of all arguments. They use that book to decide that women shouldn't have abortions ever and they should be modest and celibate and submissive to men.

If your wife is not your equal how can you expect you daughter to be all that she can or your son to respect women at all? There was a time when religions had absolute and unquestioned control and you know what people did? They took their sons to mountain tops to kill them, oppressed minorities, started wars, and sacrificed animals. Religion is an archaic device holding us back from being a smarter society. We seem to like sticking with what we know. We know oppression so we hold on to it. We know being poor so we become comfortable with it. We know gasoline so we profit from it while destroying our planet.

Gas prices are going up, as they do every summer, and it's Obama's fault. I'm sure supply and demand, all the costs to turn oil into gas, coporate greed, the costs to get gas from one place to another have nothing to do with it. That's sarcasm. What I'm actually sure of is that politics has an influence on the economy in general but to pin the high cost of fuel all on one man is nothing short of ridiculous. And have you heard about the new bumper stickers? "Don't Re-nig"the slogan for anti-Obama bumper stickers that make reference to the infamous n-word. That's pretty obscene. Dislike a man for his politics or ideas but never the color of his skin.

Arizona still seems to be making its presence known as a land of intolerance as people there are attempting to get rid of ethnic studies courses. As long as there are people of different colors I feel there will always be a misunderstanding between so called "races". I don't even like that term. "What race are you?", as if color could separate you from the human race. A car is a car whether it's blue, red, or whatever. I don't understand how it can be 2012 and this is still an issue.

There's so much work to be done to make this world a better place. It all starts with education. Read everything you can, think for yourself, stand up for what you believe in. We need to be moving onward to bigger and better things. Excelsior!

The Carpenter and The Artist

There once were two brothers, twins, both good boys and both quite funny.
They had loving parents that worked hard to have enough money.

Father was strong and manly, Mother was soft and loving.
The boys grew up very well despite some minor pushing and shoving.

They often didn't see eye to eye but learned soon they didn't have to.
They still looked out for each other like brothers should do.

When the boys were men they went their separate ways.
To keep in touch, they wrote each other about their days.

One brother went on to be a carpenter and found his way to God.
The other brother became an artist and found religion to be quite odd.

The carpenter's family went to church to hear about the good book.
The artist took his kids to museums to give the art a long look.

When the brothers were old and aged they found themselves ill.
It was feared this disease they had might actually kill.

The carpenter sought his protection from the lord up above.
His friends and family gathered in prayer and displayed their love.

The artist came to see his brother and request he seek medical help.
The carpenter had a strong belief God would only do with his life as He felt.

Even though after a long fight the carpenter finally did pass,
No one was sad, they knew the lord had called him at last.

Now the artist wasn't one to leave things to God but instead to a man.
He took himself to the local doc and asked him to do all he can.

It wasn't easy, the treatments were rough, but the artist pulled through.
He didn't thank God, He thanked the doctor and his skills so true.

"Blasphemy!" cried his brother's most conservative friends.
"Credit given where credit is due." said the brother with a liberal sense.

The artist's views were not the carpenter's. Twins they were but never the same man.
They loved each other and did things their own way, the way two brothers can.

There's no one way, nor will there ever be, to live this life.
We can only respect each other's will and cause no man any strife.