In the days since Michael Jackson's passing, there has been quite a stir about a number of topics. During the post funeral days, I have heard things like, "Where is his body now?" "Where will his final resting place be?"
So this is my two cents...
In November of 2007, the Neverland Ranch was foreclosed on for $23 Million. It has been sitting on the bank's books ever since as they have been unable to sell it. Michael Jackson's body should by buried onsite, and the ranch opened up as a museum. The did it for Elvis...they call it Graceland. Why can't they do it for Michael? That would be a great way for the investors to start making some of their money back. Otherwise, they will not see a dime of it, the building will fall into ruins and they will lose any chance they have to recoup their losses. This will also help stimulate the suffering local economy as it will provide jobs and add to the flow of money.
People will travel from all over the world to see it! I don't know why anyone else hasn't suggested this already...
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Monday, May 25, 2009
Prop 8 Retraction
Some time back, I wrote a blog entitled, "Separation of Church and State?" in which I discussed Prop 8. I voted YES on that proposition, which meant that I wanted the constitution of the State of California to be altered to ban same-sex marriages. I went on to describe how it was wrong for me to vote that way, but if I had the opportunity to re-vote, I'd vote the same way.
Within weeks of posting that blog, I truly had a heart change. If I got the chance to re-vote, I would vote NO, for all the reasons I explained in my previous blog.
I wasn't going to post this at first because...well, what is said is said, and I didn't want to seem like a flip-flopper. But as I got to thinking about it more and more, I want my writings to truly reflect who I am and what I believe. I welcome criticism from all angles, but if I am going to be criticized for something I write, it sure as heck better be what I actually believe.
Tomorrow the California Supreme Court will announce its ruling on whether to uphold or invalidate the Proposition. I'm eager to see what happens!
Within weeks of posting that blog, I truly had a heart change. If I got the chance to re-vote, I would vote NO, for all the reasons I explained in my previous blog.
I wasn't going to post this at first because...well, what is said is said, and I didn't want to seem like a flip-flopper. But as I got to thinking about it more and more, I want my writings to truly reflect who I am and what I believe. I welcome criticism from all angles, but if I am going to be criticized for something I write, it sure as heck better be what I actually believe.
Tomorrow the California Supreme Court will announce its ruling on whether to uphold or invalidate the Proposition. I'm eager to see what happens!
Monday, April 20, 2009
The Final Journey Home of a Fallen Soldier
Take a look at this picture:
http://www.msnbc.com/modules/interactive.aspx?type=ss&launch=30139780,3842331&pg=17
When I saw this picture, my heart sunk and I couldn't believe my eyes. I sat at my desk, fighting tears from rolling down my cheeks. I couldn't remember having ever seen anything like it. The war and the death of our soldiers is a very sensitive subject for me; it has been since March 19, 2003. I had to immediately start searching to figure out why my poor little eyes were seeing this!
It turns out that on February 26, 2009, President Obama lifted the ban on media coverage of fallen soldiers returning home. In 1991 during the Persian Gulf War, President George H. W. Bush placed a ban on media coverage that remained in place until now. Then I remembered seeing airplanes full of flag-covered coffins when I was a little girl. It seemed like the Red, White and Blue of the flags was never ending, there were so many. That must have been right before the ban.
My first reaction to the lifting of the ban was outrage. I don't want to see this every time I open a web page. That is really depressing! What about the families? What are they going to be going through? How can this happen? Why now? Aren't things hard enough right now without all this added to it? And what is the hidden agenda? Then as I thought about it more and more, my thoughts turned to: Have we, as a nation, become desensitized to the death of those out there fighting because it hasn't been in our face? Shouldn't these men and woman have a name and a face and not just a tally mark on our death toll? They are real, but is their death truly real to us? Maybe this is a good thing. By being shielded, have we lost the gripping reality of war? A war we shouldn't be fighting, might I add.
As I started to become more and more okay with the idea of our fallen soldiers being photographed and videotaped as they make their final journey home, one question stilled nagged at me...What about the families? How are they going to make it through the day when every time they open a web page or turn on the TV, there is their son or daughter or husband or cousin or grandchild right there...dead. I can't even take it, and I'm not related to any of them!
As part of the lifting of the ban, President Obama included that soldiers will only be photographed or videotaped with the family's permission, and there is no pressure to allow the coverage. They are the ones who have really suffered the loss, and if they are okay with it, I should be, too, no matter how it makes me feel. And now that I think about it, why shouldn't our soldiers be honored one last time? They deserve it.
The link below is to an article that reviews the ban and the lifting of it. Within it is expressed the views of a few who both support and oppose this decision.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/02/26/pentagon.media.war.dead/index.html
http://www.msnbc.com/modules/interactive.aspx?type=ss&launch=30139780,3842331&pg=17
When I saw this picture, my heart sunk and I couldn't believe my eyes. I sat at my desk, fighting tears from rolling down my cheeks. I couldn't remember having ever seen anything like it. The war and the death of our soldiers is a very sensitive subject for me; it has been since March 19, 2003. I had to immediately start searching to figure out why my poor little eyes were seeing this!
It turns out that on February 26, 2009, President Obama lifted the ban on media coverage of fallen soldiers returning home. In 1991 during the Persian Gulf War, President George H. W. Bush placed a ban on media coverage that remained in place until now. Then I remembered seeing airplanes full of flag-covered coffins when I was a little girl. It seemed like the Red, White and Blue of the flags was never ending, there were so many. That must have been right before the ban.
My first reaction to the lifting of the ban was outrage. I don't want to see this every time I open a web page. That is really depressing! What about the families? What are they going to be going through? How can this happen? Why now? Aren't things hard enough right now without all this added to it? And what is the hidden agenda? Then as I thought about it more and more, my thoughts turned to: Have we, as a nation, become desensitized to the death of those out there fighting because it hasn't been in our face? Shouldn't these men and woman have a name and a face and not just a tally mark on our death toll? They are real, but is their death truly real to us? Maybe this is a good thing. By being shielded, have we lost the gripping reality of war? A war we shouldn't be fighting, might I add.
As I started to become more and more okay with the idea of our fallen soldiers being photographed and videotaped as they make their final journey home, one question stilled nagged at me...What about the families? How are they going to make it through the day when every time they open a web page or turn on the TV, there is their son or daughter or husband or cousin or grandchild right there...dead. I can't even take it, and I'm not related to any of them!
As part of the lifting of the ban, President Obama included that soldiers will only be photographed or videotaped with the family's permission, and there is no pressure to allow the coverage. They are the ones who have really suffered the loss, and if they are okay with it, I should be, too, no matter how it makes me feel. And now that I think about it, why shouldn't our soldiers be honored one last time? They deserve it.
The link below is to an article that reviews the ban and the lifting of it. Within it is expressed the views of a few who both support and oppose this decision.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/02/26/pentagon.media.war.dead/index.html
Friday, January 2, 2009
What Happened in 2008?
So here we are, at the dawn of a new year. What will 2009 be like? We can speculate, we can dream, we can hope, we can expect. But when it comes down to it, all we can really do is live through it and find out. There were many things that happened over the course of the year 2008 that we never would have thought possible on January 1st...both good and bad. So, I want to take the time to recapture the events of 2008. So much has happened that I'm sure I will miss something, possibly even something major...
The national financial crisis escalates and infects the entire world, causing global financial struggle, panic and fear...
China hosted the Summer Olympics...
The US government took control of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac...
Fidel Castro resigned as President (Dictator) of Cuba...
AIG was bailed out by the government and squandered half a million dollars of the money on lavish vacations for its employees...
A transgendered man gave birth...
Russia and Georgia went to war, and somehow no one knows who started it...
Sarah Palin...yeah, that's all I need to say about her...
Proposition 8 passed in the state of California...
The national unemployment rate soared...
The Dow Jones Industrial Average struggled to stay above 8,000 when in late 2007 it was at 14,000...
We endured the beginning of the greatest economic recession since the Great Depression...
New Kids on the Block started touring again...I'm probably the only one who cares...
Approximately 20 large investment banks went under, filed for bankruptcy or were bought out including Merrill Lynch, Bear Stearns, and Lehman Brothers...
The housing market crashed and burned...
We watched gas prices soar to unprecedented levels, then drop to prices we haven't seen in almost a decade...
People and companies finally started to take global warming seriously...
$700 Billion bailout...
Economic stimulus package that didn't really stimulate the economy much...
Pirates...we still have pirates? Yeah, I guess we do...Saudi oil tankers were hijacked by Somalian Pirates...
The Big Three automakers are paying the price for not changing with the times, they are facing bankruptcy and possibly extinction without a government bailout...
Terrorism escalated globally...
An Iraqi reporter threw not one, but two shoes at President Bush...
OJ Simpson was convicted of robbery and kidnapping and sentenced to 9-33 years in prison...
A Wal-Mart employee was trampled to death on Black Friday...
We lost iconic figures such as Tim Russert, Bernie Mac, Paul Newman, Charleton Heston and Isaac Hayes...
We continued the war in Iraq...
Bernard Madoff made off with $50 Billion of other peoples' money, the largest act of thievery in the history of time...
We watched our nation come together to make history as we elected the first black man into the Presidency of the United States, and he won the election with an historic electoral vote count...
Again, there is so much more, and just because I left it out doesn't mean it wasn't important. 2008 brought with it much devastation and many people will remember it as a trying year, but hundreds of years from now when students are sitting in their US History classes learning about the year 2008, "financial crisis" will come up, but the main subject will be Barack Obama and how the men and women of this nation joined together to take a giant step forward at a time when we needed it most.
So here's to 2009. I welcome you with arms wide open. No one knows what the new year will bring, but I will speculate, dream, hope and expect that it will be a year of prosperity, growth, love and change. I expect that over the course of 2009, great things will take place that I never thought possible on January 1st.
The national financial crisis escalates and infects the entire world, causing global financial struggle, panic and fear...
China hosted the Summer Olympics...
The US government took control of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac...
Fidel Castro resigned as President (Dictator) of Cuba...
AIG was bailed out by the government and squandered half a million dollars of the money on lavish vacations for its employees...
A transgendered man gave birth...
Russia and Georgia went to war, and somehow no one knows who started it...
Sarah Palin...yeah, that's all I need to say about her...
Proposition 8 passed in the state of California...
The national unemployment rate soared...
The Dow Jones Industrial Average struggled to stay above 8,000 when in late 2007 it was at 14,000...
We endured the beginning of the greatest economic recession since the Great Depression...
New Kids on the Block started touring again...I'm probably the only one who cares...
Approximately 20 large investment banks went under, filed for bankruptcy or were bought out including Merrill Lynch, Bear Stearns, and Lehman Brothers...
The housing market crashed and burned...
We watched gas prices soar to unprecedented levels, then drop to prices we haven't seen in almost a decade...
People and companies finally started to take global warming seriously...
$700 Billion bailout...
Economic stimulus package that didn't really stimulate the economy much...
Pirates...we still have pirates? Yeah, I guess we do...Saudi oil tankers were hijacked by Somalian Pirates...
The Big Three automakers are paying the price for not changing with the times, they are facing bankruptcy and possibly extinction without a government bailout...
Terrorism escalated globally...
An Iraqi reporter threw not one, but two shoes at President Bush...
OJ Simpson was convicted of robbery and kidnapping and sentenced to 9-33 years in prison...
A Wal-Mart employee was trampled to death on Black Friday...
We lost iconic figures such as Tim Russert, Bernie Mac, Paul Newman, Charleton Heston and Isaac Hayes...
We continued the war in Iraq...
Bernard Madoff made off with $50 Billion of other peoples' money, the largest act of thievery in the history of time...
We watched our nation come together to make history as we elected the first black man into the Presidency of the United States, and he won the election with an historic electoral vote count...
Again, there is so much more, and just because I left it out doesn't mean it wasn't important. 2008 brought with it much devastation and many people will remember it as a trying year, but hundreds of years from now when students are sitting in their US History classes learning about the year 2008, "financial crisis" will come up, but the main subject will be Barack Obama and how the men and women of this nation joined together to take a giant step forward at a time when we needed it most.
So here's to 2009. I welcome you with arms wide open. No one knows what the new year will bring, but I will speculate, dream, hope and expect that it will be a year of prosperity, growth, love and change. I expect that over the course of 2009, great things will take place that I never thought possible on January 1st.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Separation of Church and State?
As a conservative Christian Republican, naturally I voted Yes on Proposition 8 in this past election. I voted according to my morals and my religious beliefs; my belief that marriage is only to be between one man and one woman, as God originally and still does intend it to be.
While watching a political talk show last night, the panel began discussing Prop 8 and my husband and I got to talking about it in a way we never had before. The views presented on the show were contradictory to ours, and although the following ideas were not represented in the dialogue, the panel's conversation did open the door for the ideas and conclusions we came to. I must add that what I am about to say is not necessarily the view my husband holds; I have expanded on our original discussion and do not want to press onto him any ideas I hold that he may disagree with.
Here in the United States, we have a separation of church and state. That means government has no bearing on religion, and religion has no bearing on government, or at least it's not supposed to. The phrase "separation of church and state" is not explicitly stated in the constitution or any other supporting document, but the idea is there, in the First Amendment. Thomas Jefferson reaffirmed that this amendment creates a "wall of separation" as stated in his 1802 letter to the Danbury Baptists. This idea has since been enforced in a number of Supreme Court rulings beginning in 1878.
As a Christian, I voted according to my religious beliefs to alter our state constitution. Now, where's that separation? Okay, so no one ever said individuals had to keep it separate, but the management of this country and the laws that are passed are suppose to keep it separate. Which leads me to my next question...What was the proposition doing on the ballot in the first place? I would say that a one man-one woman marriage is a predominately Christian ideal although there are many non-Christians who support this view as well. If we stayed true to our American heritage, Prop 8 never would have made it to the ballot.
I have to wonder how I would feel if Islam was or became this nation's influential religion, and the Muslim religious beliefs began to be pushed onto me. For example, the Quran (the sacred text of Islam) states that a husband shall beat his wife if necessary. What if people began passing laws about domestic violence against women not only allowing it, but encouraging it? I, along with many others, would be pissed. No, pissed doesn't even begin to describe it. There are so many arguments that can be made against it. I won't get into it all, but here's a thought: If it became a lawful and acceptable thing to beat on women, what does that say about women in general? That we are inferior to men? That we don't have the same rights as men? That we don't deserve to have the same rights? That we hold a lesser worth or value as a human being? That we are no more than property? I could never go for that and there are many others who wouldn't either.
And that's the beauty of having a separation of church and state; with true separation, that could never happen. But do we really have it? What about the people in this country now, who aren't Christians, or who do not hold Christian values? Is it right to impose upon them our religious beliefs? Is it right to frame our laws around those beliefs? Don't they, as humans in America, deserve the right to live their lives according to their own values and not those of someone else? (As long as they are posing no physical harm or threat to others, of course) By passing Prop 8, we have imposed our Christian values onto those who do not share them. That is wrong from an American political point of view as I previously discussed, and it is wrong from a Christian standpoint, which I will now explore.
Christians are called to show God's love to all people and to reach out to those who are in need of His saving grace. As a Christian, Jesus is my perfect example of how I should live my life and interact with others. For those who don't have Jesus yet, we as Christians are all they get to see of Him. Jesus made right and wrong very clear, but everything He did, He did in love, never forcing anything on anyone; He always gave people the opportunity to choose the right thing. If we as Christians are forcing our beliefs onto others, other who don't know anything about Jesus except what they see in us, why would they want Him? Nobody likes a dictator.
The God I serve is the farthest thing from a careless dictator, but how would anyone know that by the way so many of us have been acting? It should be our mission to befriend homosexuals (and non-Christians, in general) and love them and show them the heart of God and give them the opportunity to understand and to choose Jesus. We shouldn't just tell them or try to force them to conform to our beliefs; Jesus never would have done that.
So no matter which way I look at it, I did a very hypocritical thing by voting Yes on Prop 8. But if I was given the chance to go back in time and change my vote, I most likely would not change it. What does that say about me as a person in light of what I just explained? As a Christian? As a person who believes in freedoms and choices and that everyone deserves them? That is an entirely different blog altogether...one that I will probably never write. But I will say that I still have a LOT of growing to do.
http://www.loc.gov/loc/lcib/9806/danpre.html (Jefferson's letter)
http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/church-state/decisions.html
(Supreme Court rulings)
http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/Quran/003-wife-beating.htm (Quran text)
While watching a political talk show last night, the panel began discussing Prop 8 and my husband and I got to talking about it in a way we never had before. The views presented on the show were contradictory to ours, and although the following ideas were not represented in the dialogue, the panel's conversation did open the door for the ideas and conclusions we came to. I must add that what I am about to say is not necessarily the view my husband holds; I have expanded on our original discussion and do not want to press onto him any ideas I hold that he may disagree with.
Here in the United States, we have a separation of church and state. That means government has no bearing on religion, and religion has no bearing on government, or at least it's not supposed to. The phrase "separation of church and state" is not explicitly stated in the constitution or any other supporting document, but the idea is there, in the First Amendment. Thomas Jefferson reaffirmed that this amendment creates a "wall of separation" as stated in his 1802 letter to the Danbury Baptists. This idea has since been enforced in a number of Supreme Court rulings beginning in 1878.
As a Christian, I voted according to my religious beliefs to alter our state constitution. Now, where's that separation? Okay, so no one ever said individuals had to keep it separate, but the management of this country and the laws that are passed are suppose to keep it separate. Which leads me to my next question...What was the proposition doing on the ballot in the first place? I would say that a one man-one woman marriage is a predominately Christian ideal although there are many non-Christians who support this view as well. If we stayed true to our American heritage, Prop 8 never would have made it to the ballot.
I have to wonder how I would feel if Islam was or became this nation's influential religion, and the Muslim religious beliefs began to be pushed onto me. For example, the Quran (the sacred text of Islam) states that a husband shall beat his wife if necessary. What if people began passing laws about domestic violence against women not only allowing it, but encouraging it? I, along with many others, would be pissed. No, pissed doesn't even begin to describe it. There are so many arguments that can be made against it. I won't get into it all, but here's a thought: If it became a lawful and acceptable thing to beat on women, what does that say about women in general? That we are inferior to men? That we don't have the same rights as men? That we don't deserve to have the same rights? That we hold a lesser worth or value as a human being? That we are no more than property? I could never go for that and there are many others who wouldn't either.
And that's the beauty of having a separation of church and state; with true separation, that could never happen. But do we really have it? What about the people in this country now, who aren't Christians, or who do not hold Christian values? Is it right to impose upon them our religious beliefs? Is it right to frame our laws around those beliefs? Don't they, as humans in America, deserve the right to live their lives according to their own values and not those of someone else? (As long as they are posing no physical harm or threat to others, of course) By passing Prop 8, we have imposed our Christian values onto those who do not share them. That is wrong from an American political point of view as I previously discussed, and it is wrong from a Christian standpoint, which I will now explore.
Christians are called to show God's love to all people and to reach out to those who are in need of His saving grace. As a Christian, Jesus is my perfect example of how I should live my life and interact with others. For those who don't have Jesus yet, we as Christians are all they get to see of Him. Jesus made right and wrong very clear, but everything He did, He did in love, never forcing anything on anyone; He always gave people the opportunity to choose the right thing. If we as Christians are forcing our beliefs onto others, other who don't know anything about Jesus except what they see in us, why would they want Him? Nobody likes a dictator.
The God I serve is the farthest thing from a careless dictator, but how would anyone know that by the way so many of us have been acting? It should be our mission to befriend homosexuals (and non-Christians, in general) and love them and show them the heart of God and give them the opportunity to understand and to choose Jesus. We shouldn't just tell them or try to force them to conform to our beliefs; Jesus never would have done that.
So no matter which way I look at it, I did a very hypocritical thing by voting Yes on Prop 8. But if I was given the chance to go back in time and change my vote, I most likely would not change it. What does that say about me as a person in light of what I just explained? As a Christian? As a person who believes in freedoms and choices and that everyone deserves them? That is an entirely different blog altogether...one that I will probably never write. But I will say that I still have a LOT of growing to do.
http://www.loc.gov/loc/lcib/9806/danpre.html (Jefferson's letter)
http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/church-state/decisions.html
(Supreme Court rulings)
http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/Quran/003-wife-beating.htm (Quran text)
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