Now where did I put that screw driver?

This week in the news we heard that Heidi Stefanyshyn-Piper, one of the astronauts on the International Space Station, accidentally let her tool bag slip away while she was making a repair on the outside of the space station. I hate when that happens! The photo of this is priceless, actually pretty unreal. I kept thinking about this incident all week and now I'm just going to jot down some thoughts for your ponderation.

1). How can we manage to send people into space for months at a time and plan out each and every element, from oxygen delivery to waste mangaement, food and temperature control, and yet someone couldn't think to attach some velcro to the tool kit?

2) Why is it that the first time a tool kit goes missing it's the girl's fault? I hope she isn't blonde.

3) I think it's hilarious that at the moment the astronaut saw that the tool kit was floating away the NASA ground crew overheard her say "Oh Great!" If you drop your cell phone in a mud puddle it's "Oh Great" if you drop your bagel on the floor it's "Oh Great!" but come on people, if you drop a $100,000 tool kit in space in front of the entire world via satellite? There would have to be a seven second delay for what I would be saying.

Somehow this whole incident serves to make me step back and realize that we can plan our lives, we can set it up and have every detail lined up a certain way, but then life can just come along and BOOM, your tool kit is floating away. I feel that way sometimes when my stress level gets up to DEFCON 5. I feel my coping skills just floating away in space and as I try to slo-mo my way over to get them, they just slip further away. At that point I have learned that the best thing to do is hunker down and wait. Call the cavalry and let them know that there's been an incident and then make a new plan. Usually the waiting brings about renewed ideas and the stamina to implement them. Or, like the astronauts on the International Space Station, someone with their own tool kit can come along and help you.

Now all we have to do is be watchful. If you are walking a beautiful beach some night at sunset and you look up to see something hurling at you at the speed of light, I would say DUCK because a wrench coming full tilt from space is gonna leave a mark.

Time's up!

Rootin Tootin Vladimir Putin and Mayor Michael Boom Boom Bloomberg have lots in common. Both have delusions of grandeur that convince them that the world as we know it will collapse into ruin if they are not in power-again. To that end both are seeking to change the term limits laws in their prospective communities. Mayor Bloomberg succeeded last week, along with the city council, but it remains to be seen whether or not this will withstand the challenge it will certainly recieve.

What is interesting in both instances is what we see often in corporate America. People claw their way to the top and once they get a sip of the power, become addicted to the high and will do anything to keep it.

It is as ridiculous as it is narcisstic to think that they alone can lead their people. Term limits were enacted for very good reasons. Cronyism and corruption are the two that come to mind. I remember working for a company where I watched as the most ruthless and corrupt persons rose up in the ranks, feared by most and respected by none. They wielded their power like bludgeons and had no sense of the collective good.

Term limits are our way of saying that we know that power can corrupt, and that no one person is ever the only person who can lead. We need people in leadership positions both in and out of government who are going to lead with a sense of the collective good. This will only happen when competent people step forward and agree to serve. Good people who will not let the stench of the good ole boy network turn them away. Dedicated people who cannot be bought, and will not sell out.

Bloomberg and Putin, get a grip. You had your fiftteen minutes and your time's up. If you are so concerned about the future of your people, then stick around in an advisory position and continue to serve. Emphasis on serve.

I'm just saying . . .

Priceless!

Yes Virginia, there really is a Barack Obama!

Christmas came early last night and the celebration could be heard around the world. I'm usually not lost for words, but today I just want to say that I feel so hopeful for our future because of Barack Obama. There will be those who will be looking for his every mistake, and those who will be gloating at the enormity of his challenge. Let them simmer in their hate. Those of us who voted for this man have dared to dream of a time when our country can move beyond racial divides and rise to be the kind of nation where our similarities are celebrated and our differences mended. Today I am so grateful to live in a country where the people can decide who leads them, and we have chosen.

John McCain stepped down last night in a gracious and very dignified manner. He will no doubt be sought out in the new cabinet for his advice, as he so generously offered last night.

I pray that all those who so vehemently opposed our candidate will, in time come to respect him and embrace the him as our new president of the United States-Barack Obama. As Obama stated last night, it's not about him, it's about US.

Dear Stem, we hardly knew ye.

Today we honor all those brave young souls who died alone, in the bottom of a red biohazard bag, incinerated at the end of the month with legions of soiled utility towels and latex gloves. We honor their sacrifice, their bravery in the fight for the opportunity to become one single precious life whose sole purpose is to grow in the womb of a fertile, waiting, hopeful mother. So intent on bearing a child is she, that in the absence of God's actions, she takes it on herself to extract her own eggs and place them in the hands of a scientist. This medical shaman then impregnates that egg with spilled sperm from the potential mother's husband, whom she deeply loves and is committed to in the holy state of matrimony. After approximately three thousand dollars, a fertilized embryo may occur and we call this occurance "life". Make no mistake, these fertilized embryo's are not just some random tissue, replicating willy nilly in a dark, lonely laboratory. These embryo's are actual tiny children, with all the exact same cells and hallmarks as you or I, except that it can fit in a tiny petri dish. These children then are replicated in multiples, as it takes many attempts to finally get a firm implantation in the mother's hormonally enhanced uterus. Yes, God doesn't see fit to give her the proper hormones, so she seeks wisdom from her physician who pumps her full of chemicals in order to better her chances of having one of these multiple children decide to stay for a while.

What then remains of all the mulitples that have no purpose once the mother has finally reached her goal and becomes pregnant? These embryos are not some science experiment that can be discarded as so much trash, these cell groupings are living souls with the imprint of God himself.

If we truly believe this, then each and every embryo that is not implanted into the mother ought to have a proper funeral and a Christian burial. A respectful graveside service is the least that should be offered for these poor souls that have died, waiting for the mother who, in her hurry to run ahead and play God, has changed the rules once she has recieved the coveted prize, and then lo and behold-these embryos are now expendable. She goes home, flush with the knowledge that she is with child, and leaves the rest of the messy decisions about the disposal of the potential cell groupings to the doctors. Isn't that tidy?

What if, in the absence of finding a uterus to have them, these same embryos could find a home not in a uterus, but perhaps in the body of a seven year old boy with osteosarcoma? What kind of higher calling would that lend to an embryo who is otherwise slated for the trash bin? Would not a soul, with all the potential to become a human being, not then be offered the opportunity to become part of the healing of another young soul? This sacred symetry would be so life-giving that each embryo would know it has reached it's full potential in it's tiny lifespan.

John 15:13 "Greater love hath no man than this, that he would lay down his life for his friends."

I challenge anyone who is against the use of stem cells for the healing of another human soul to sit in the hospital room with a child with cancer. Not for an hour, or a day. Sit there day in and day out for a month. Watch that child being poked and prodded, bloated from steroids, bald from the medications and fighting to stay alive.

We have the opportunity to take what has already been created for other reasons, and grant life to an innocent victim of childhood illness. Shame on those who will not share the bounty of their fertile richness to save a dying child. Playing God is fine when you hit the jackpot yourself, owning up to the fact that you've denied that same life to others may be a bit harder to answer for when the roll is called up yonder.

We deserve better

I saw this ad posted on the Drudge Report today, and it immediately made me feel both sad and angry. Sad because this is the state of politics in the McCain campaign, and angry because there are many Americans who don't have the ability to process complex information and will derive their opinion of Barack Obama through these types of smear ads.

This ad shows that there is no depths too deep for Mr. McCain to go. Karl Rove must be so proud. Our country is so thirsty right now for a positive voice, so anxious about our financial crisis and downright eager to have someone lead with a steady hand, and this is all the McCain/Palin group can muster? It's disgraceful and nauseating to me that McCain can stand up with that big grin on his face, calling us all his 'friends" and then blatantly lie to us about the facts. It reminds me of the ice skater Nancy Kerrigan and the incident that occured in 1994. Ms. Kerrigan was ahead in competition and Tonya Harding saw her chances of a win waning. Because she couldn't win on her own merit, she had her husband club Nancy Kerrigan in the knee, causing a serious injury.

Barack Obama has been a tough competitor but he has never questioned John McCain's patriotism, and has never put John McCain's life in danger with rhetoric. The McCain/Palin team seems to have no shame in ramping up their crowds with hate and misinformation. If anything were to happen to Barack Obama from here till the election, hundreds of thousands of American citizens will hold John McCain personally responsible.

I hope with all my heart that on election day American's will choose the candidate who has the dignity and compassion to lead us in the coming four years. My choice will be Barack Obama.

Just an observation

Okay, I was listening to Governor Palin recently and her rabid list of frightening reasons we should be very afraid of Barack Obama. I'm sorry, but it seems so obvious to me that Sarah Palin is a vampire and electing her will insure that our country will all be in jeopardy of being attacked by this blood sucking beast. She is scary and besides, don't you see her doing that DOUBLE terrorist fist jab? See for yourself.

Shucks ya'll, I'm just sayin.

The reviews are in . . . .

Last night we saw the vice presidential contenders up close and personal-or did we? No, last night we were entertained by a series of monologues performed by Sarah Palin in what can only be reviewed as the "moose in the headlights" matinee.

Oh yes, the hair was pinned up and the lipstick was on, her high heels were cute and she winked at us along the way. Frequently looking to her notes she delivered her lines with the tenacity of a true thespian. (and by the way, she did choose to be a thespian!) She was all "shucks" and "gosh" giving shout outs to her homies who are, you know, all hockey moms and Joe six packs.

I give her credit, that was a lot of material to memorize and she did a gosh darn good job of it. But my friends (hee hee) we need more from a person who may end up leading our country than the ability to barf up the ingested talking points. We need intelligence, we need a person who isn't just reading the Cliff's notes in order to make intelligent small talk at a Washington dinner party.

Joe Biden, God bless him, did not bring the bloviator to the stage last night. He was thoughtful and sharp, he was intelligent and steady. Joe Biden could step into the highest office of this country in a heartbeat.

People want to say that no election is ever decided by the vice presidential pick, but come on people, just look at John McCain. He's stepping on a banana peel already. Do you really want someone to be president who is giving shout outs?

No way, no how, no McCain/Palin.

McCain - who is he professing to be now?

Now more than ever our country must take off the blinders and take a good hard look at things as they are, not as we wish them to be.

Today John McCain called for a suspension of both presidential campaigns in order to address the financial crisis. For the past week Senator McCain has been red faced and brutal in his attacks against the Wall Street perps who done us wrong. But wait, could all this fist pounding and histrionic rhetoric be a smoke screen for the truth: that John McCain IS one of those he is railing against?

Yes, my friends, Senator McCain has been at the helm of this big oversized Titanic for 26 years pointing it in the direction he wanted it to go, in order to make ridiculous sums of money for his fat cat friends in Wall Street. Now that it's hit the ice berg he's running down to the life rafts with the women and children, all the while berating the horrible brutes that were steering this lumbering mess.

John McCain is a wolf in sheeps clothing and the American public had better get their beer goggles off and take a good long look. He's the guy that mentions that he was a P.O.W. after every question, yet he sponsored legislation making water boarding and other torture techniques legal. He proposed legislation supporting de-regulation, and now he claims to be such a Maverick that he's angry at those who are in support of it.

He's a hot head, not a Maverick. He's a coward hiding behind the latest polls, not a hero. His latest stunt of postponing the debates I believe, is his desperate attempt to slow down the momentum of the Obama campaign and he will do any cheap stunt to make it happen.

McCain at one time seemed to be an individual, now he appears to be a right wing puppet who will do or say anything, true or not, in order to win the prize.

There is everything we are as a nation at stake in the election and I do not want a leader who is ill tempered and reactionary. Barack Obama leads with a calm, methodical approach, and isn't that what we need in anxious times like this?

This country is hungry for the kind of leadership we can be proud of again and it sure as hell isn't going to come from the right. As Democrats we are finally finding our voice and taking back our place at the table.

Oh yes we can, hell yes we can!

Time

This week I am celebrating my birthday; and with this comes reflection. There are things that with time, become more clear, and other things grow hazy around the edges.

This I know for sure:

Love really is all there is

Nothing is random

We create our world minute by minute

Also, shit happens

Then we still try to create our world, with the shit that just happened

Life is a series of proposals which we accept or turn down

Every single transaction in our day is an opportunity to learn

All beings are our teachers

Chocolate pudding is a healing substance for many of life's challenges

Prayer, chanting, singing, wishing, feeling, humming, art, and poetry all bring life into a higher vibration and it's good

Giving brings you an expanded heart

Children are like a fine wine, grandchildren like aged port

It's harder to take risks as we get older

It's exhilarating to be free of the expectations of youth

I'm less sure of many beliefs that I once held true, but more sure of who I am

I am not certain that I will ever know the sole purpose of why I am here, I'm not sure I even need to know. I do know that as I grow older I am more tender at the bone. That hard outer shell of youthful bravado has long been shed in the molting season and I see life with sharper focus now. Life, with all of it's heartache and brilliance is only sweet when shared. I am grateful to have so many in my life to share it with.

This blog entry is a big thank you to those in my life who teach me, love me, help me see, help me play. I hope to grow older with more of a sense of abandon, to stretch and grow and not be held back by fear or worse, by apathy or entropy. There are too many adventures still calling to just slow down.

Giddyup, carry on!