I am a Democrat.

 I am a Democrat. I always have been a Democrat and most likely will always be a Democrat no matter what individual is running. That's right, you read it right. I will never vote for the person. It all started back when I was a teenager and asked my non-voting father what the difference was between the Democrats and Republicans. He answered quite simply, “Democrats are for the poor people and Republicans are for the rich.” Even though he didn't vote he considered himself a Democrat. Which is a shame but so true for lower income earners as he didn't think his vote counted. While this is possibly over simplistic it still rings true.

You see, I grew up in a trailer parked in a trailer park. My father was a simple butcher and my mother didn't work. Since we didn't have any government aid I do not consider my childhood as poor, but rather lower middle class. I am now right smack in the middle of middle class. I live comfortably but still if the economy sunk, so would I.

I have a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from UTEP. In that school of thought, the professors tried their very best to convince their students of Republican virtues. It all sounds great. People should take care of people. Corporations have an obligation to take care of their employees and should give to charitable organizations (not to mention the tax deduction) to make society stronger. Employees will spend thus building a stronger community and charities will take care of the needy. This way, government will be able to take care of the larger picture. Trouble with that picture is people are greedy and like to line their own pockets. In 2009 Dan Gerstein wrote in Forbes.com, “Big banks on the brink of collapse rewarding the folks who put the country on the brink of depression with $18 billion in bonuses. Citigroup (nyse: C - news - people ) going a tone-deaf step further in buying a $50 million luxury jet.” Not to forget the AIG gave $218 million bonus payments after receiving $170 billion bailout. In the recent Al Smith dinner that Romney and Obama attended, Romney pokes fun at Obama indicating his time in office is limited, “Of course we’re down to the final months of the president’s term…As President Obama surveys the Waldorf banquet room, with everyone in white tie and finery, you have to wonder what he’s thinking. So little time, so much to redistribute.” I'd rather have a Robin Hood as a President than one whose wife wears $900 t-shirts.

That's why voter id is pushed by Republicans because poor people tend to be apathetic like my father. There is very little voter fraud. Any voter id laws are promoted by Republicans to make it difficult for the indigent to vote. The Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University of Law draws the following conclusion (each point is further explained at http://www.brennancenter.org/content/resource/policy_brief_on_the_truth_about_voter_fraud/ )

* Fraud by individual voters is both irrational and extremely rare.
* Many vivid anecdotes of purported voter fraud have been proven false or do not demonstrate fraud.
* Voter fraud is often conflated with other forms of election misconduct.
* Raising the unsubstantiated specter of mass voter fraud suits a particular policy agenda.
* Claims of voter fraud should be carefully tested before they become the basis for action.

I recently dropped a former colleague and who I thought was a friend from Facebook because of her bashing of Obama. She was blaming him for the economic recession, her son-in-law's death in Afghanistan and other reasons. Though she is educated, her rantings were the opposite. She was basically voting for Romney, not for his campaign platform but to vote against Obama.

First off, Obama is not to blame for the recession. He also didn't start the bailouts. George W. Bush left office already having approved a federal bailout in of the American International Group for $85 billion September of 2008. This crisis is the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. “It has become one of the rare things that binds the two men, the controversial automotive bailout that was begun by former President George W. Bush and completed by his successor, President Barrack Obama,” stated Paul A. Einstein of the Detroit Bureau in his February 12, 2012 article “Bush Would “Do it Again” on Auto Bailouts”. The $17.4 billion automotive bailout was made in December 2008. My point is the worst financial crisis is not going to turn around in just four years, yet the country overall is recovering. The bailouts were a necessary government move in order to avoid a second Great Depression.

I feel sorrow for the loss of my former colleague's son-in-law. I feel sorrow for the loss of any son or daughter lost in war—on either side. I think it is a shame that in this modern age we still have to resort to barbaric war tactics to settle disputes. But also, I think that a person should own up to personal responsibility. If a person joins a killing machine (Army, Navy, Marine Corp, Air Force) for whatever their personal reasons, s/he should understand that her/his possible death is part of that assignment. But lets also remember, we were in Afghanistan before Obama took office.

I feel that a person should have the right to affordable health care and not have to worry how his/her medical bills will get paid at the worst possible time: while they feel sick. A woman should have a right over her own body. A person should be able to choose who they love and marry, regardless of sex. It is no threat to me, I've made my choice, other people should be able to make their choices. I feel that a person should be able to eat, no matter what his/her income bracket. I feel everyone should feel that their vote counts. That's why I am a Democrat.

The Republican party is not what it used to be. If the Democratic party changes and leaves its current platform, then I will have to realign myself to a party that supports equality for all: poor, sex, religion, rights, healthcare for all, marital rights for all.

It's a war! No, it's the 4th of July!

Happy birthday America!
It's a war! It's a war! No, wait, it's only the 4th.



Ever since I was a kid, I used to love the 4th of July. Notice that I used past tense. So sit back and I'll give you a little history lesson. I moved outside the city limits with Charley and since people couldn't shoot fireworks off in the city, they would drive to the outskirts to buy from the multitude of temporary stands and then proceed to shoot their hard-earned money into the sky. In those days there weren't many people living this far out of the city. Everyone would go a little crazy like our dog, Moksha who would try and chase down the firecrackers and bite them. He would get so wild that we would have to lock him up in a room without windows until the whole event was over. But, every year we'd pull up chairs, sometimes invite friends over and have a cookout, buy the kids a small amount of fireworks (with our hard-earned money) and sit back and enjoy the madness.

But then things changed. Each year the crowds got bigger and bigger. Now there is so many cars that they create an actual traffic jam where cars creep along the freeway waiting to exit the ramp. People are no longer are just parking along the access roads of the interstate to have their little party, but driving up and parking next to our home with total disregard to our territory. They don't shoot fireworks off at their house, so they drive to mine to have their party.


When the huge crowd began to invade, the fun of the 4th began to leave me. My poor donkey, Murphy, would run around the property trying to escape the invasion of the insane. He understood that it was war. Then came the year of a drought. The crowds of people gathered as usual shooting off fireworks wherever there was a bare spot between the greasewood and the mesquite bushes with a complete disregard and disrespect for homes they parked themselves amidst. Fires started. We didn't have time to watch the fireworks that night, we were chasing little fires set in the desert surrounding our home with buckets of water in hand. We finally went to bed around midnight, then our neighbor called and said there was a fire on the other side of our house. Sure enough, a bush caught on fire. People had already jumped our eight-foot fence and were trying to put it out. Together, we smothered the flames out. Turns out that even though it was dry enough to catch the desert on fire, it wasn't dry enough for the laws of Texas. Of course, most of Texas is not a desert, but the southwestern tip is. But who cares about the southwestern tip?


But now, let's talk about the aftermath. When everyone who came to the outskirts of town has had their little party and burned all their blasting purchases leaves, do they pick up after themselves like good citizens of an ideal community? You got to be kidding yourself if you think they do. Beer bottles, cans, food wrappers, and remnants of fireworks casings remain in the wake of the celebratory war. The county does hire a clean-up crew who come out and clean most of the crap along the interstate, but the side roads are left to be cleaned by the local inhabitants, like us.


Then for ten years we were cycling during the summer months and were not at home. While we didn't see what was going on, but in the back of my mind, I always wondered if my home would be burned down in my absence. Even on the road, we would find a locale to stay put for a few days. Drunk drivers and cyclists are not a good mix. I did not want become a new test for the inebriated. Last year we retired and we no longer have to cycle-tour during the heat-stroke months of summer and have been home during the onslaught of celebrators. Last night we stayed in and just listened to the loud explosions of the assault outside. This year we are lucky, the monsoon rains started early and the desert was damp. No fires were started.


But I ask you, "Are all these people celebrating the birth of our wonderful, free nation or do they just see an opportunity to blow up things, drink, and have a party?" From my perspective, I am more inclined to agree with Murphy, it's an invasion and a war and no longer a celebration.

What to do with money?

From the time we are children, we are trained to want money. We ask our parents for things, they will either buy it or tell us that they don't have the money. We start to earn an allowance for things that we do around the house. Each of us, then, develops how we will use that money. The impulsive ones will go out and spend it as fast as possible, others will have a goal and save up to buy it, others still, will save and never spend. These habits will follow us into adulthood: always desiring money and what we do with it once we have it.

I've always been the goal setter. I save for goals then use it. While I was working I observed people who would be absolutely miserable the week before payday, announcing how much better they would feel once their paycheck was in their pocket. People would always ask me how Charley and I could go on 2-1/2 month vacations. It's because I knew how to manage and save.

In the past few years, I've observed elderly people. Fear has engulfed them and their fists are tight holding onto their money. These people have a difficult time using it for what would make them happy now. "Oh, I can't do that, what if I fall ill and need the money?" Actually, the kids who went out and spent their money right away are really going to fare better when they are old and are no longer able to care for themselves. 'Why?' you may ask. When you are in that situation and have no money, Medicare will take care of you. I guess people fear the quality of care they may receive; fear not, it will be good care. As long as you have money, of course, it is your money that will take care of you, of course until it runs out.

What good is it to leave it to your heirs? There most likely (not always) will be bitter fighting, begrudging, greediness; and for what? Money that you have bee trained to desire all your life. My goal in life is simply this: use my money while I can enjoy it. I don't care if I have money once I no longer understand the world I live in. I don't care if I leave money to those living beyond my death. If I have it now, I earned it, I should enjoy it.

How are you going to use your money?

Socrates Quotes

Often when looking at a mass of things for sale, he would say to himself, 'How many things I have no need of!"

America's gluttony

We're in a recession?
You wouldn't know it traveling down the road. Trash, waste, food, and good merchandise line our roads. Cycling slowly up to Guadalupe National Park, a trash bag lay strewn over the dirt at a car pull out (50 yards from an actual trash bin, I might add). I spot something orange. I tell Charley, my captain of my life and tandem bicycle to stop so that I may check it out. It was a perfect orange, never peeled, never eaten, but thrown away because of America's gluttony. We take it, wash it, and eat one of the sweetest oranges you could imagine.
Our stores constantly sell one-time, one-use items. We no longer make products that will work or last over a period of years. Our children are so accustomed to toys that they will play with a couple of times then leave neglected, then thrown away. Visit Wal-mart and just look around. Yesterday I saw a bubble wand which sold for $1, before Easter they were selling a case of plastic, colored eggs for a similar price. It's not the price, but the gluttony that I am attacking here. These things have minimal use, kids tire of them quickly and where do they end up? In the landfills which contribute to global warming.
We are warm shower hosts for traveling cyclists. European visitors are shocked by the mass of products offered in stores, huge refrigerators and pantries in homes, and the mass of products Americans own. It's not just what we own but what we throw away.
Zipping down the road in a car will often blur the trash beside the roads. Cycling and walking enables a person to take in the immense quantity of things thrown and/or lost along the roadsides: backpacks, golf bags, large bags, medium bags, small bags, purses, cargo straps (never buy another one--just go for a walk or ride), wire, Leatherman multi-tools, Gerber multi-tools, hammers, wrenches, screwdrivers, towels, wash cloths, hand towels, coats, pants, shoes, dresses, jackets, just to name a small amount found and seen. These are all things we did NOT see in Europe.
Oh, and the plastic bags--what are we doing? I stand in the store and watch how we continually stand in line, bagless, and let the clerks place our purchased items in plastic bags. Maybe these bags will get another use at home as a garbage sack, but will inevitably either end up, again, in a landfill contributing to the demise of our planet, or as an eye sore along the roadside that even a passenger in a car zipping down the road can see.

If we are truly in a recession, shouldn't we be more frugal, shouldn't we be more careful, shouldn't we save?