AMERICA FOR THE PEOPLE.

About 35 people showed up at a nationwide rally for Bernie Sanders for President. We gathered in a parking lot in Sonora, and flashed signs at the passing traffic. I've sat on the fence between Hillary, Trump and Bernie.  Hillary has worked hard in public service most of her life and has done wonderful things for others. But, she has wrapped herself in the arm of an unpopular, disappointing  president. Then, after promising she would not take super-pac money against her own party, she has. Not only wall street money but Monsanto, the GMO giant who spends billions to prevent states from labeling where our food comes from and whether it is genetically modified or not. That did it for me. Establishment politics, the failed machine that is inducing companies to go off shore, avoid taxes and take away good jobs from Americans?  Trump and Sanders are the only two candidates mandating change away from the establishment.


Trump says nothing and Sanders very little about climate change while massive extinctions and weather change are playing havoc with our planet. For the sake of our children and grandchildren, we on the ground, must shed the ingrained deniers, people who refuse to acknowledge science. We must shed a do nothing congress, promoting government shutdowns and working lock-step for their party instead of people. If a working person refuses to do his job, he gets fired. How dare Mitch McConnell state he will not even have a hearing on an appointee suggested by a sitting President, whether he is liked or not?
Trump and Sanders represent desperately needed change. Can they get us out of gridlock? I don't know.


Environmental issues are foremost in the minds of others I met. Keep coal, fossil fuels in the ground. Support wind and solar. I talked with a bee keeper who lives in a pristine area where his bees are turning his garden and orchard into super  production, in a time when Monstanto and Bayer Chemicals are causing colony collapse across the nation. I'm hoping for a candidate that will make sure the laws we already have on the books are obeyed, like those from the EPA and the FDA and the Forest Service. All are sidestepping regulations when we are literally in danger of earthshaking consequences of fracking, contaminated water, shortages of clean water, decimating natural habitats for profit over nature. We and our institutions are under attack and they are ignoring our laws. How dare they get away with that stuff? They do it by under funding the organizations we depend on.



The group marched along the highway, and into a shopping center. One man was so angry, I thought he was going to attack us. He called us Communists and Socialists. Bernie is an unapologetic Socialist. The angry man wouldn't talk rationally with us, like is he on Social Security? Does he use Medicare. Has he ridden on a train or does he drive on our socialistic roads? Has he used water from behind a dam? Come on. We all benefit from shared expenditures. Socialist countries like Sweden and Denmark, and Canada and France and many programs in Great Britain have provided a good quality of life even though big Pharma will tell you socialized medicine is about waiting in lines for poor quality medical care.  Biased they are. They don't mention the wonderful government sponsored childcare and education. Roosevelt made sweeping changes that saved people with his socialistic programs that corporate America has tried to dismantle ever since. Are we better off? Not hardly when it takes two or three income sources for middle class people to keep the wolf from the door. When people with college educations are slinging hash.


Bernie is against the consolidation of big banks, and the notion that Wall Street's obligation is to make obscene amounts of money while working people are struggling to feed their kids. The system is out of whack. Trump feels the business model is the best way to run a country. Trump makes statements about laws he is going to pass that aren't practical like building a bigger wall. A bigger wall isn't going to stop the drug cartels who have already moved across the border. Nor stop people from entering the country unless you fence the entire country and put a net over the airspace. He also bothers me because he makes statements and then denies he made them. Even so, Rubio in five yeas has produced ZERO bills and his absenteeism is compared to Finestein who is 82 and Kirk who has had a stroke.  Cruz is more concerned with moral issues than the planet, or government working for working people. I'd run with Trump over them and figure he'd be smart enough to figure it out.


Suffice it to say, there is no perfect candidate. If there is, I haven't heard about him or her. So, for the time being, I'm hanging in with Bernie. 

I believe this is true. He really does care for all.

RELIGION AND ETHICS IN GOVERNMENT

I was raised Christian and I’m continually stunned by avowed Christians who peddle hate, and spew vitriol about Arabs or Muslims or blacks, or gays… Hate begets hate; it sears the soul and I have a difficulty with that paradox. It is also partly why I am no longer a Christian nor a believer.

So, what can we expect from our government? Right now it is divisive, there is dominant greed, a consuming lust for money, power and prestige. Decisions are made to keep themselves in power over the broader good of the country, everywhere, not just in the United States.

And while I hew to no organized religion I would invite religious leaders to condemn the behaviors we see in government and to be vocal about reminding them of their supposed purpose as leaders.

The world’s religious leaders weighed in, representing 100 of the world’s diverse faiths, including Buddhism, Islam, Bahaism, Judaism, Confucianism, Zoroastrianism and all the organized Christian religions, Pentecostals, Catholics, Protestants, Evangelical Christians, Mormons.

Together they formed a Parliament of the World’s Religions. They found some common ground issued a joint statement of rules for living which exhorts all people to eschew violence, to respect and restore the planet and to work together to address the worldwide problems of poverty, hunger, oppression and prejudice. A  GLOBAL ETHIC.

Here are some of their (abbreviated by me)  Declarations toward a Global Ethic:

WE are interdependent.
Each of us depends on the well-being of the whole, people, animals, plants…
WE take individual responsibility for all we do.
All decisions, actions, and failures to act have consequences…
WE must treat others as we wish to be treated.
Respect life, dignity individuality and diversity, so every human is treated humanely…
WE consider humankind our family.
Serve others, forgive, not be enslaved by memories of hate, equality between men and women…
WE must strive for a just social and economic order, in which everyone has an equal chance of reaching his or her full potential.
We must speak and act truthfully and fairly…
WE commit ourselves to a culture of respect, justice and peace.
We will not oppress, injure, torture or kill…
Earth cannot be changed for the better unless the consciousness of individuals is changed first.
We pledge to increase our awareness by meditation, prayer, positive thinking, understanding, friendship, peace fostering…

And so it goes. The ten page document was forged by 200 religious leaders in 1993. Well meaning, but since then things have only gotten worse.
I wonder if the Parliament would choose a different leader every month to attend every session of Congress and continually quest them to adhere to the basic tenants of their declaration before they voted, if it would help? In essence to become a presence of conscience at every step of the way? Might help. Couldn’t hurt.

WE DO NOT CHOOSE.

At 89 years old, my friend Anne Williams enjoyed the good years. I planned to visit her yesterday. She was moved from the hospital to her house under hospice care to spend her final days at home. That wonderful organization; whoever devised it I do not know. Her caretaker, Tynna, was relieved to have help. Within three days,  before I could make that visit,...she died in Tynna's loving arms. There are angels in life, and Tynna is one of them.

I'm thankful we had those last visits, a few laughs, remembrances of a long friendship. Her hands were always warm and she would hold my cold ones to warm them. I'm thankful she was not in pain. We do not choose our time, but we choose how we live.  Anne always did good things for others with a smile on her face. A life well lived. She was her husband's partner as Square Dance Caller and Tau 25-30 years. After retiring to Toulumne County, she took joy in gardening, making quilts for needy people, volunteering at the Tuolumne County Museum, and always caring for a pound dog.

With Tynna, she was much loved. What the heart has once known, it shall never forget.

ENRICHED AND MOVING FORWARD

I've had almost continuous company since Dec. 22nd. Yesterday, my brother, Norman left and the house was eerily quiet after a storm of activity. I plopped in a chair and read magazines for about an hour before attempting to do a thing. An article in one of those magazines was about testing stress levels. In short, it claimed that looking at pictures was the best stress reliever among a number of activities. And, of course, I've taken more pictures and looked at more pictures than any other year of my life. Normally, I don't look at Jim's blog before setting out my blog. This time, he called me, and I did. It was pictures he had taken of me. So, in turn, I'm going to post pictures I've taken of Jim.

And, he is such a ham-

 

He actually studies his destinations, works on smooth sailing, and reads directions-twice-before trying a new product.

 

 He is nurturing, and caring and treasures his family and friends.

This is supposed to be a travel blog.  Choosing a life partner and a travel mate, Jim Jaillet has enriched my life as I move forward into 2011.