CBS This Morning--Response

I am unsure of the younger man's name speaking on the CBS Morning show regarding the gun debate, but I wanted to take a moment and compliment him and his approach in trying to explain and reshape the debate. He made two points though, I wanted to address. One, he is right, east and north coast folks are very different than folks living in the south, alhough having known many people who live on both coasts, I know more than a few who feel that owning and having a right to a gun is a completely normal, non hick right. But his point is closer to making sense than than anything else I have heard; the way the gun control folks are speaking make it sound like ALL guns should be gone. And yes, in an ideal world where there is not violence of the sort that might require a final "stop moving towards me and hurting me" shot, then no guns would be fine. Ofcourse, rocks would be lethal, sticks, pushing someone off an edge, or, as the soccer player you featured in your follow up story, a fist can deploy a lethal shot. So how do we decide which fist is an AK-47 and which is more of a small BB gun? You get the point. That being said, gun owners have to face a reality...as does the rest of America. There are people who do not have the development, the social connection based feelings and behaviors or social skills to feel a part of society and over time this alineation and the hurts we, as humans inevitably cause others to feel becomes a toxic mix of decision making that unfortunately results in massacres with guns as the weapon. Additionally, some people who are very good people, sometimes become so overwhelmed and stressed that they simply snap. Parents are reluctant to admit "my child, whether grown adult child or child in home, has issues" and from there make the decision they do not need any guns in home, no matter how much saftey they teach. But beyond parents, there are also friends, spouses, bosses, co worker, etc. who often are front line int the warning signs of a breakdown or dangerous thought process. And we, as a whole, have been less than willing to have those discussions until after something heinous occurs. But the definition of mentally ill is tricky. Anyone who has been giving a medication for anxiety is considered mentally ill. Well, there goes 3/4 of our country. And this definition is going to change even more, because we have an emerging base whose front temporal lobe which handles impulse and judgement, is being changed. In other words, all our lovely technology is rapidly reducing the ability for folks to be patient..after all click click and I get what I want immediately. So we now have alot of people with low frustration levels...think two year old tantrums. Now make those tantrums on teens and adults of all ages. Makes me wonder ofcourse about another point he made, that "Republicans and Democrats ACT different, they behave different" This is a concept I am going to write about more in an essay, but I'll throw it out here as well, maybe he is really on to something. Folks drawn towards "religiosity" tendencies are more rigid. Republicans have attracted that base for a very long time, so it stands to reason their leadership would be made of this type of mentality and leaning, one of a more rigid, black/white line, all or nothing mentality; mental illness is something they cannot grapple with because unfortunately, the truth is, many of them would fail the background check on a psych eval (to be fair, so would democrats, and everyone else). Reality is that most all of us would. The idea that there is a clear cut "normal mind" and an abnormal mind is just a warm and fuzzy myth we like in our world so that there is a clear "us" and "them".  Democrats, as a melting pot of sometimes misguided compassion with no internal regulation, can't move through the arguement to find an agree point on the necessary element of guns in our world. For the record, I am a gun owning Democrat in Oklahoma. I am a therapist and I have my carry and conceal. I do not take my gun to work because our law in our field forbids it. I work with folks though, that sometimes exhibit the types of behavior and thought patterns that make gun control advocates shiver as they imagine the scenarios. Wake up call folks, we all work with these people, because on any given day, that person becomes us. Are some guns unnecessary? Sure, on our street, today, with the sun out, and law and order in effect overall, sure. If the metaphorical rise of social zombies (yep zombies, I so used them as an example) and breakdown of society between the impoverished and the "have more than anyone ever needed in a lifetime (or ten)" keep colliding and if our social structure broke down and a hundred people were racing towards me in a death match moment, then the Ak-47 or that Bushwacker might have merit. The reality is, our fear of that moment and our very real fear of a government that we don't fully always understand nor trust, regardless of the fact that government is "for the people and by the people, and in essence are the people" makes the words "gun control" sound much more like "we take your right to protect you and your family". So the young man is right, the wording is wrong. But when do we move beyond to finding out why we are dissolving into a much crueler society, our children are relentless in their torturing of one another, and parents throw fits at the schools for "getting on their poor baby" when their poor baby is a prima donna popular kid tormenting another child gleefully. Or their kid is the quiet, introverted game playing child who one day, due to mixing fantasy and reality too much, decides to take the game on for real. (Sorry game makers, your full of #$%*!, the military trains with these games, they desensitize the response system over time, and they train in military defense and attack training, I have ten year olds that know more gun types, bullets, and swat modes than you can imagine...they didn't pick it up on Sesame Street) But again, it is the parents who bought the game and not all children will use the video game as a training manual for a later crime) At some point, we have to stop arguing and start having real conversations. Conversations about what is happening in the brains of our emerging generations. Discussions of how true mental illness works and how it effects the mind and judgement, and then carefully evaluate the most obvious who should probably never own any guns because of psychosis versus someone with anxiety who took a valium once for surgery. But don't forget folks...circumstances can make anyone "temporarily insane". And that, in the end is what makes this whole debate so hard. Finding that one  line or characterstic that keeps us all safe from "them". Earlier I said I had my carry and conceal, a year ago we had some guys who apparently were involved in a  shooting a few blocks over. I woke up at three A.M. to dogs barking, opened the curtains, and roughly three feet past my window were three males. At first, I thought they were walking in the sprinklers to cool off because that seemed totally logical at 3:00 am. Its Oklahoma, its hot here. Then the young man swung his arm forward and I saw a gun my mind could only register from movies...as my husband asked what was wrong all I could muster was "spraying gun", because that is how the gun acts, it sprays continual bullets. Now we live in a historic area, very nice area, good homes, good people, safe streets. But a young woman had moved into her mother's old home and brought her friends into our world, and her friends apparently like shooting at one another as an activity on a Saturday night. I can tell you that I did not remember to grab a gun, I walked through my house to find a phone, got physically ill when my husband said they were in our driveway just as the operator told me there had been a shooting, and threw up as I felt that feeling I had only read about prior, "cold fear" coursed through my body. When I returned from the bathroom, my husband was gone. He had only heard "spraying" apparently and thought they were messing with our sprinklers. Again, its 3 A.M., we recognize we had a communication error. He ran out, confronted them with his finger basically telling them to get down now. They thought he had a gun and dropped to the ground. Fairly quickly they realized he didn't and they took off. Neither of us ever grabbed a gun. Both carry and conceal certified. Both pro gun. Both southern hicks right? Let's remember, those boys had a gun, and in that moment, even scared, being chased, and trapped for a moment...they didn't shoot him. And maybe that's where the debate gets stuck. For every clear cut moment of misuse and calamity of guns and people run amock, there are those moments where things are handled differently that define "reckless and thoughtless behavior" with a line of clarity in mindful intent and mindful choice in action.

Maybe the guns are the sympton to our problem. In counseling, people often bring their child in who is "having problems". Sometimes the child really is hard wired in a  way that maybe is not fixable, no pills, no treatment, nothing is gonna change or alter how this child acts, thinks, or responds. Other times, the family structure, the environment they exist in daily, those are more the contributing factors.  When we are lucky, we can help change that world enough to help the child stabilize themelves and from there start to make healthier response and coping skills. I would argue that the adult version of gun violence run amuck probably starts with similar elements.

 Psych evals scare people. They feel like there is some deep seated thing the world will know about them that will brand them outside of society. And why not have this fear? I would not want the government to have a record on me like that at all. Not because I am hiding anything, but because government is made up of people, and people, to quote Tommy Lee Jones in "Men in Black" are "dumb, scared animals". Look at polygraph tests...(I am not an expert on these so please throw everything I say out the window when an expert shows up)Polygraph tests work on the bodies response system; ie sweating, pulse rate, breathing and changes in these once a base line is found. Well, for someone who has the genetic wiring to have a high fight or flight response system which can lead to them having a high sense of guilt/shame response, even when they have done NOTHING wrong, these folks will fail a polygraph. I would fail a polygraph and probably admit to something I didn't do because I am wired for feeling responsible for everything. So if polygraphs can incarcerate the innocent...you can understand the fear about a psych eval. But we have to start somewhere and there are some factors we know are common in some of these crimes. Isolation, lots of technology, disconnection from social and family interactions, loss...the list can go on depending on how many gun crimes you want to examine. So maybe, figuring out how to focus on the contributing factors; bringing kindness, finding out how to engage people (ex Big Bang Theory-all those characters we love--they are the description of one end, the healthy end, of a psychological makeup as well as a genetic makeup that has been found in some of the mass shooters--amazing what friendships and being understood and finding a place in the world and meaningful work can do to a person huh?) All that warm fuzziness of how we treat one another has a point. And we are overlooking it.

Well, anyway, this started as a short comment and became a long essay. In an hour, I go to work in a field where the very people our legislators and action groups are debating, will come into my office, sit down, and chat about life, stress, trauma...and we will try and find some solutions. I won't be carrying a gun. But make no mistake...I am a "Clint Eastwood"-raised on the original "Red Dawn"" type gal with a Charleston Heston mantra..."You won't get my gun till you pry it from my cold dead hands"...any questions?

                                                           Toes, the "warrior dog"
                                                            copyright 2013 Kristi Crutchfield Cox

HOPE

In response to my previous post regarding voting for hope...

I just finished voting. When I arrived at the courthouse to vote, they told me where my precinct headquarters was located.

"Go to "New Hope Church of God"

Really...a church? To Vote?

And when I arrived, my eyes focused on one word...

Hope.

It will be intersting to see what happens when the polls close.

I voted for hope.

BULLWORTH, OBAMA, and AMERICAN HOPE

If you haven't seen Bullworth, you should.

It is the story of a white, middle aged congressman played by Warren Betty, who rips the lid off the political correctness bullshit of interviews we have become so accustomed to in our medias efforts to show us who our "real candidates" are, mind you this is possibly due to a brain tumor, but the effect is insanity with a purpose. Hallie Berry plays a hitman turned love interest, who ultimately witnesses the living dream assasinated in front of her. There are many moments in this film that feel over the top, and yet, the film is brilliant. It exposes our underbellies as a society, ALL our underbellies; white (caucasion), black (African American), Asian, Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese, Latino, Colombian, Salvadorian, Hispanic, and the many MANY mixes of our ethnicities in between. I find it interesting that in a  few mintues I will go stand in line again, hopefully able to vote.

And who will I vote for...

That is the hard one, the thing that has rendered me less excited, less sure, and completely confused as to what I should sacrifice and for which greater good. I have realized that men like Ryan are something I cannot support or even relate to. I  have realized men like Ryan have no business in politics anymore, as they have nothing to do with the American people as a whole, but rather a fading (hopefully) era of frightening beliefs and lack of connection with the diverse public.

And yet, Romney is part of an economist mentality that regardless of his intelligence, we need a bit more of to figure out our middle class extinction. Or maybe that is a misguided hope, because there is no real proof he is going to be able to fix anything at all, and the cost of him slashing and buring women's rights by giving the government extreme power over personal decisions is a risk I cannot take. Not for me so much as for my fellow females, who may one day find themselves in a  room, needing the right to make their own choice.

I don't understand why religion is in government. Didn't the Anabaptists fight for seperation for a reason.

And Obama...I have to point out here that I do not believe this man is a terrorist. Mainly, for no other reason than I would think if he was trying to be a "Homeland" type plant by some identified enemy...wouldn't his name be something like Jack? Or John, Or Bob? But not...Obama..and not admitting anything about muslim connection.

So past that concern..how has he done?

He was handed a war torn country, a recession, and a monumental moment full of expectation and weight.

He was given a congress better suited for time out on a playground than for running a country.

He was handed a voting public whose interest in anything beyond a 10 second slam fest of misleading messages was nill.

He was handed millions of people losing jobs, facing evictions, and being defrauded in some of the largest investor schemes of our time.

He was handed a country looking for hope, but unprepapred for the real overhaul it will take.

He was handed a country looking for a team captain...

I am sure he has not lived up to the epxectations and hope I had, but I am sure that between the two...he is still the one who gives me hope.

So in this election, I vote "hope".

The Undecided Voter

Today I read about the undecided voter. The image of this voter changed based on whose summation I read. "Walmart mom", "uneducated", even "no apparent brain activity". All descriptions of this voting set previously known as the undecided citizen. Each trying to decide why there is very little passion in this Presidential race.

Well, let me introduce you to one more category of the undecided voter.

She is educated, has one bachelors, two masters. Works roughly ten hours a day, sometimes less, as a clinical therapist. One evening, she teaches, college level. She has been a yoga instructor, a massage therapist, worked in corporate america, even painted fences on a farm. She donates her time and money to causes, and will put her money where her mouth is on making sure art can be reached by the poorest and least educated. She is pro choice, because she has realized that in the end, life and death are personal. She also believes Oregan or Denmark are a viable plan should choosing death be a necesary option if her own health is terminal.  She does not care about white, black or yellow, but tends to think that America is an evolving race of diversity, and that this diversity surpasses color, or even stereotype. She is middle class, in a good year. And in a bad year, she works harder. She is lucky because she has a family to back her up. She knows not everyone does. She had a scholarship to go to college. She had parents to fund the rest. She knows there are many smart and talented people who never get the chance. She also knows that there are wasted dollars used on others who quite frankly are a waste of time. She has witnessed people on welfare do the "I got my check dance". Those people annoy her. She has seen more often though the mother trying to balance raising children and stretching very few dollars and even fewer food stamps, all the while trying to help their kids with homework.  She understands that teachers aren't the ONLY problem with our education system, but rather a growing segement of children who have processing disorders, chemical imbalances, and emotional disturbance that may need to lead the way in redefining educational approaches. Because if a kid hasn't eaten, mom got the crap beat out of her, and she has only two pairs of clothing...reading, writing, and arithmatic really don't matter. She knows that abuse crosses socioeconomics....but in a recession, violence goes up, period. She wonders why parents have become the "don't you say nothing to my child" enforcement of child delinquency. She wonders why that PE teacher who kept from giving the little boy a reality check that kicked him, isnt' the poster face for making parents deal with the nightmares they are raising. She knows not all parents are at fault. But she knows some are. She appreciates the oil industry that helps her state keep people employed. She doesn't understand why movie stars have an opinion on fracking, especially an uneducated one. She understands that cement and asphalt raise temperatures in cities and less green space means hotter temperatures. She wonders why anyone is focusing on the farts of animals as an environmental issue. She questions why those who receive disability but are able to work aren't put to work picking up trash in parks and public ways, or using a skill they have in a modified work environment. She remembers a friend who was a great carpenter but due to a head injury would get overwhelmed in the workplace. He wanted to work, just needed an adjustment. She doesn't understand why the other issue of our youth, those who are entitled, or whose parents have little control, can't be put into a service reform program to help them regain some basic self respect...She wonders when the media will realize, it is not that she does not care, or is uneducated, its that neither of them give her faith or hope. She does not care if a gay person wants to marry, because she understands that "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" should not dictate personal choice but rather allow for the widest interpretation as long as no one gets hurt. She doesn't get why the Feds care who smokes a joint. She thinks La Guardia was right forty years ago. Personal choice is simply that, personal. She is still annoyed President Bush had a faith council office in the White House. She believes religion and government should stay seperate, but if you are going to have a religious council, maybe all religions should have a seat, including the non religious minded. She wants to have pride in America. America made. America driven. She worries about our military, so many lives lost...both on the battlefield and when they come home. She wonders when we will realize that maybe we need to rethink our goal to save the world, and maybe work on saving ourselves again first. She remembers what she teaches her clients, if you do not heal your self first, you are of no good to anyone else.

She is listening to the debate and is realizing...neither one have any idea  how to fix our country quickly. She knows, in the end, patience is necessary to fix what we have created.

So to both candidates here is what I am looking at:

Prisons are overcrowded and when people are locked up, rehabiliation is not happening. We need real change here. But violent offendors and true dangers of society are the only people who need to be locked up. otherwise, put the folks into a work program where for so many years they work to pay back for their crime. And they still pay taxes and their bills. Education needs an overhaul, but more testing isn't helping. CHANGE WHAT KIDS NEED TO LEARN. Not everyone is going to college nor competing with China. Get creative in creating a new definition of educated. Healthcare--too expensive, period. But folks, to lower costs we gotta figure something out. Illegals, well you know what America, there are some illegals I would keep here any day over some of our own natural born. But we have to get a plan. If you aren't paying taxes, then honestly, no services. So create a voucher to allow them to work legally while waiting for citizenship. Some mental illnesses make working impossible, but we need to evaluate our system all the way through. Youth violent behavior, gangs, etc...PUT THEM IN A SOCIETY SERVICE PROGRAM AND THEN INTO THE MILITARY. If you want to kill, then lets give you a code, some honor, and remove the mayhem your current style causes. Teenage pregnancy...folks some kids will be virgins, some won't. Make options available...then leave it to the kid and the family to decide for themselves. But know that some families aren't healthy, and they can drive really nice cars and be in the PTA. That doesn't make them good for their kids, they just cover it better. Maybe since people are losing their houses, we should rethink foreclosure, because empty houses and homeless people make no sense. Give insurance cuts to people who work to be preventative in their health self care. Oh, and please realize TV and video games do effect our children...maybe we should have more care in what they see and are exposed too. We should protect our kids innocence when and where we can. I don't mind paying taxes, but when the IRS sends me three letters saying I didn't pay my taxes and I did...are you wasting my dollars with inept staff? And stop identifying yourself solely as the political group you are a part of--WE ARE ALL IN THIS SHIP TOGETHER. The reality is, I will never be pro life. You may never be pro choice. So maybe neither of us should decide that issue for the other. I will never think each person has an equal opportunity to succeed, because I have gotten to know the insurmountable difficulties some people face...they will never have an equal chance. And if they do, its because of a miracle. And as for test studies...maybe let people decide if they want to risk trial studies, not the government. If all I have to gain is a chance to live, why should you decide that for me? And yes, know that I realize my statement makes my pro choice stance seem hypocritical, but I define life as ability to live independently from host body. We have starving folks, why not let resturauts have a donation process for food left over. We have grocery stores who have food that won't sell, why not create laws that allow for them to donate viable food. Another day I will address corporate america and taxes, but today Maslow's Heirarchy indicates basic needs should be addressed.

Govenor Romeny, you scare me. You seem to think everyone has a hidden piggy bank they refuse to use. But you made some good points so I am going to research what you have done in your state.
President Obama, you have frustrated me. But you have also tried to look out for those who really are not able to help themselves without a hand.

Why am I undecided? Because our problems are so layered. And picking a direction is kind of like seeing alot of paths in the woods...you can't see where they end up.

Maybe, if I keep typing, keep talking, keep educating myself...maybe by November one of you will stand apart as the right leader for my country.

And if not...guess a coin toss will work too. By the way---one thing I do know--the tricky, shady, negative ads....they are juvenile and show me your 7th grade mentality. Stop it. It's wrong. And it shows no leadership, just really poor taste.

So why am I undecided?

Oklahoma Bed Time Stories "How Personhood Bill Increased Prison Numbers"

Bob and Mary went to the doctor to discuss the fact that they had not been able to conceive. Their doctor helped them decide to try invitro, a process where a woman's eggs are fertilized and then implanted back into her body. They successfully had two children and decided, for their family, this was enough. Then they had to decide what to do with their left over eggs. Both decided that donating them was not something they wanted to do, and they certainly did not want more children. So they chose to let the eggs be disposed of. Two weeks later, Bob and Mary were in jail, their children in states custody, and their doctor, whom had cared for them, was on trial for murder.

Kris and Michelle were at college and decided one day that they wanted to take their relationship further than holding hands and kissing. They wanted to have sex. So Kris and Michelle went to their doctor to get birth control. They did not know a new law had made birth control a form of murder because it prevents eggs from implanting. Kris and Michelle names were turned over to the police for collusion to commit murder. Kris and Michelle don't look good in orange.

Jeff and Shirley went to the doctor after Shirley had what she thought was a miscarriage. Her doctor informed her she would need to go to the hospital. After arriving and explaining why she was there, she was taken in a room. Shortly after, a policeman came in and informed her she would be investigated to see if she and her husband had intentionally caused this miscarriage. Shirley cried as the doctor explained, opening her legs, that he was sorry but the law demanded an investigation. Jeff shook his head trying to remove the scene of his wife crying, a policeman waiting, and a doctor soothing..."there there, this will only take a minute".


Matt and Tara went to their insurance agent after learning of one of their children's pregnancy's. Overjoyed, they wanted to take out a life insurance policy for the fetus, now declared a person. Their insurance agent, surprised that a fetus was now a person, scrambled to see if there was a policy to be bought. But apparently, insurance cannot be bought until a child is born because insurance does not recognize a fetus as a person. So Matt voted for a change which forced insurance companies to provide coverage for a fetus.

Kristi went to the doctor to find out her options after discovering she was pregnant. She had college to attend, a job to secure, and her boyfriend had made it clear he was not interested in having a child either. While waiting for her information about clinics who offered abortion, she heard a knock on the door. A policeman entered and stated "you are being arrested for an attempt to murder a child". Kristi now wear's inmate number DOC 3000. You can visit her Saturdays, 1-5.

Vodka...and life

So, we work, we come home, we prune our plants, drive around the lake with friends, order pizza, which ultimately is made in a pizza place in the wrong town. We write checks to companies who feel its unreliable, asking for cash, or for debit cards, credit cards, maybe blood is the new commodity. We watch movies about genocide, Rowanda wars...fought on the side of some idea of vindication of the down trodden, , some idea of creating a better or holier world. Some simply for power, for money, for resources. The result a bloody bath of ignorant hate.

The news reports the Chinese are taking up the world's blood, smiling as they buy another project, invest, moving their people into the Africa, setting up towns of lightened skin amongst darkened poverty. Isolating money flowing from its grounds, sending their affluence home, empowering only themselves. History has a trend. Men laugh at their conquests, laughing as they kill. Women hide their faces from the facts. The color of the skin does not matter, Americans have done it for years. We have killed in our history, whether native or our own. but eventually, it all becomes our own. The Chinese, become Chinese American, the Iraqi, becomes Iriaqi American, I have become a combination of the Heinze 57 of my bloodline, some french, some cajun, some turkish, german, and even ethiopian, and I am blonde. I wonder of the countries that do not allow this type of evolvement, realizing their people are no longer purely anything, but rather a beautiful blend of diversity.

Some countries kill that.

I came home today, annoyed with a society that seems to sleep while others starve, throwing out food rather than risking a lawsuit of food poisining, of suing rather than being thankful, of being confused about how to talk out an issue without a judge and jury.

Frustrated that parents have children they cannot raise, that children have beds they share with whomever they are being bartered to for the night, their bodies the price of a mother's fix. Their father's an absent commodity at child support court, taking jobs paid under the table so they don't have to lose a dime.

As we build our McMansions, pretending like we are civicly and green minded...do we ever ask..what happens if we are wrong?

Vodka is kicking in...

State of Affairs....

Last night I spent an evening with some dear friends, both are years older than I, and yet, our spirits are connected by a similar zest for self actualization and experiences. Our love for food and wine are rivaled by no one. We passiontely explore religion and the effects of its' oppressive nature when applied by human intent. Exploring doctorines' whose commands often involved the denial of self and the adherance to morals that are sometimes questionannable at best. I appreciate that these women exist, their journey in life and the questions they have give me hope that our minds don't have to become more closed and traditional as we age, but rather that a fresher, wiser, and more open outlook can be what I have to look forward to.

I wonder where intelligence is in our daily world.

The news ripples with parents defending their children's out of control behavior, all the whole looking for a side door to sneak out through. Schools are being tied down from encouraging thought and critical thinking, the new focus being trained puppets of rhetorical regurgitation. Creationism is now a science. Evolution is a myth. And while I actually understand a parent's desire to make sure their children adhere to a faith--whatever faith they are following, I don't understand their fear of allowing their children to learn and decipher information. But history has shown that all one has to say to explain their reasoning is "the devil is in knowledge, so limit the knowledge you seek to only that which complies with our belief". No wonder the apple was so dangerous...knowledge gives choice.

A friend asked what I thought of Jeff Warrens, that self proclaimed prophet of monetary bliss and sexual dominance. Oh, I mean prophet of faith. He asked about the state of polygamy being against US law. Well, after thinking about this, I came up with this...if the US is using the definition of marriage from a religious definition as defined by a particular faith, than that violates the seperation of church and state. So since it can't endorse a particualr relgion, the question becomes one of recognizing a religion's right to establish it's own beliefs and how marriage is defined would be one of them. Now, as to children being married to old men (or young, or females, or whatever) the state has a legal obligation to protect children from abuse, so the state needs to interecede, since child abuse is not a religiously protected right. What makes this more difficult though is that there is a tradition in some countries where young girls, age 12 are put into arranged marriages by their parents, it is part of their culture. The US, if the child is living here, cannot apparently overstep what is the norm in a culture for that child's peers, even if our law does not agree. So I am not sure why we have contradicting considerations. (SVU epsiode covered this scenario-I was suprised that this was the outcome and the reasoning it was based on)

I find it interesting that we consider raising a child in a belief as brainwashing if it is one way, but consider it bringing our children up with morals if it's in another. I know alot of people that were raised without the right to explore ideas different than what their parent's thought or believed.

So what is really the difference in brainwashing other than activities and media attention?

Rambled thoughts...The Patrioic Hippie

Fox News and other such jokes....

"Open border 101 types" her comments about a teacher's assignment, to create a political sign, activism encouraged. Since when has asking a student to promote a thought of their own considered taboo? If the child had written "Go God, Pray Hard" the mouthpiece of Fox would have applauded, called in the lawyers for the student's right to be an activist for prayer in school. This mouthpiece's ethnic heritage evident, more so than mine and yet she labels progressive thought and a desire to give each person a chance for freedom and life as the eptiomy of why our country is falling apart. Closed borders and closed minds exist in the same brains.

Unfortunately, Fox News hasn't adopted the tag line of "comedy". Even worse, they take themselves pretty seriously.

At least they finally let Ann go.

Life is interesting...

The Patriotic Hippie

"Blogging...to reveal one's thoughts in an open forum, without regard for the outcome or response."

I am new to this. But the current of anger and frustration, confusion, and overall wonder at the way the world seems to be playing itself out has prompted a much quicker response to providing one more thought to an overwhelmed society.

Daily, I sit in a room, piecing together the unpieced life. A quilting of people's experiences, trying to help them create some beauty out of destruction. Some decimate me in their resourcefulness, and ability to survive. Others' inspire questions as to why procreation requires no thought, no preperation, no skill, our desire to protect civil liberties leaving child rearing and planning out in the cold.

I wonder if the road to hell is simply that...a road. Possibly paved, maybe asphalt, might even have traffic lights, since the flow of seekers seems to increase in every second.

Religion has influenced a world with varying regard for its' inhabitants. Gods, goddesses, Deities, Buddha, Allah, Confucius, Jesus...sitting drinking tea, watching the ramblings of a people who disregard the main tenant. A crap shoot of saviors...who's on first? Who makes it in? Who does a drive by at the pearly gates?

My first blog...at midnight, long past my bedtime.

PMS contributes to negative thoughts...

Maybe next week it will be sunnier.

The Patriotic Hippie