Thoughts on a Cloudy Day - Religion

A friend in Australia asked me about what I believed. This was a question that was posited to me by my psychologist about ten years ago also. So just to put it out there, I thought I would give my view on religion and spirituality. Mind you, these are my views and they may not agree with your own. I firmly believe in the Hindu teaching, "There are many paths up the mountain. The only one not getting up the mountain, is the one who is running around and around it telling everyone else they are on the wrong path." So let me start at the beginning.
I was raised in an area that has many Christian churches but not much else. Growing up, I was raised Catholic as that was the religion of my parents, though neither practised unless you called having seven kids and propagating the faith, being good Catholics. I went to church every Sunday, usually at my grandmother's, so went to Sacred Heart and listened to my godfather and his sweet tenor voice. I would have been thought of as a good Catholic boy. Some even had visions of me being the one to become a priest. Yet, I always was bothered by some of the things said in the church, especially the Nicene Creed which went up my spine for some reason. As I got older, I made my confirmation and at times even my brothers and sisters would call my Father Ed. Yet, somehow I felt the church was not my home. Oh, I had read the bible through a couple of times and understood a lot of it, but there was a lot of contradiction between what Jesus was teaching and what I heard from the pulpit each week. Somehow, I didn't feel it in my heart.

“Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense.” (Hindu Prince Gautama Siddharta, the founder of Buddhism, 563-483 B.C.)

That was the crux of it though, the dogma of the Catholic Church did not agree with my own reason or even made sense. Yet, I continued on. I did a stint in the Air Force and outside of talking to God and finding the only place I felt good was in the woods, my spiritual life took a rest. Though upon leaving the Air Force and returning home, I would still be called Father Ed by some. I eventually caved, and became a Youth Minister. Kind of like dipping your toe in the water before taking a plunge. It was a good time and I loved working with the kids. I remember one who was taking passages from the bible and berating his fellow students in his confirmation class. I turned to him and told him that what he was saying was not what was meant and that he was taking it out of context. I then recited the whole passage by memory. The nun watching this exchange came up to me afterwards and said that she was glad someone finally put him in his place. Not what I meant, but by this time I had heard a lot of people taking bits and pieces from the bible and twisting them for their own ends.
Now my room at the center was the old sacristy for the chapel on property. So it was kind of detached from the rest of the building and I was alone in this big empty room. They had built a bathroom in there so I wouldn't have to go back to the main building just to use the john in the middle of the night, so it was my own little world. It gave me a sanctuary that I could just talk to God. Ever try it? Just talk like you would your best friend? Most importantly, shut up. How many of us just keep jabbering on and then walk away and say he doesn't listen. We don't give him time to answer. One of the things that I was still having trouble with was the whole idea of Catholicism. I kept asking why was I there? I didn't belong. I was told that I was a holy person. I have been many times. This is why others call me Father. They see that holiness in me and because I was Catholic equated it to being a priest. Yet, this was not my path. As I found out later, there was a purpose for me being there at that particular time, but still, I had to run.
I felt that I had to prove to God that I was not a holy person, so I got into an ill advised affair with a married woman. There God, see, I told you. It didn't last long and she was empowered to leave her husband and move away. I spiralled down into deep depression. I would not leave my room or shower, or anything. Yet, one day, I decided to go for a walk in the woods. We had acres of woodland behind our house so I could just get lost if I wanted and no one would be around. As I walked, I was shaking my head.
What do you want from me God? Why are you doing this to me?
I am not doing this to you. All I have ever asked is that you be yourself and open your heart and show the way.
But I don't believe in the Catholic Church. I am not going to make a good priest.
Who asked you to be a priest? All I asked is that you open your heart to others. By showing your light, you will light up others.
So you don't want me to be a priest?
Do you want to?
No.
Then, why would you even consider it? You are a special person. You have all ready touched many people and helped them on their journey. That is all you have to do. You can walk whatever path you choose, just keep your heart open.

Well, I went back home, took a shower, shaved, and had something to eat. I had a lot to think about.

Well, time passed and I had gone through one marriage. We still loved each other, but her mother did not like me much any more since I had told her no once. We kept in touch through the years. I found myself back at my mother's and foundering. I was never much for dating but a cousin introduced me to a friend of theirs. She was very Catholic. She seemed to like me and quite frankly, Catholicism was the only religion I knew at the point, so I accepted that part. It lasted nine years and I had a breakdown, so I was seeing a psychologist to help put the pieces back together.

Eventually, we managed to get the pieces together, but it begged the question, who was I? We started to investigate many aspects of myself. Finally came the big question, what do you believe spiritually?

Well, everyone thinks I should have been a priest. Maybe all of this was because I ran away from that. I refused my calling, so I am being punished.

She shook her head. I didn't ask what everyone else thought. I asked what YOU believed.

Hmmm, no one ever really asked me that. I went on to tell her that I was most comfortable in the woods. It was there that God and I had the greatest conversations. I would spend hours there. Everything was like family. I would sit in this glade with the sun filtering through the trees and just watch the birds and rabbits and squirrels going on about their business. Every now and then, one would stop and look at me. Once I swear a squirrel waved. Maybe I am not as cured as you think. You know, I kind of think that it is like the Force from Star Wars. In some way we are all connected. Every tree, shrub, squirrel, rabbit, bird, deer, and human are all tied together somehow. Remember, that scene when Obi Wan sat weakened as they were on the Millenium Falcon. Luke asked what was wrong. Obi Wan said he felt as if millions of lives were just ended. That is what I believe, something like that.
She then went on to tell me that Karl Jung, the protege of Sigmund Freud believed something very similar and was trying to prove it. George Lucas had studied Jung and used that as the basis for the Force. So my thoughts weren't quite so far-fetched. Search your feelings, Ed.
She then told me that I should start looking at other paths and see if maybe there is one that is more close to my own spirituality. So began an amazing journey of discovery.
Having Celtic roots, I decided to start with the Druids. I read up on the Druid spiritual ways, but let me tell you, some of those names are just too hard to pronounce. Though, I think I have the Tuatha De Danann down. It was fascinating to learn, but not close enough to how I felt. I then learned about shamans, curanderos, laika, and other indigenous healers around the world. I was starting to see something in these that I could believe in. I started to learn about Native American people in the Americas before Europeans overran them. I found something in their way of life, in their culture that agreed with me. The problem is that because of so many charlatans, hucksters, and frauds, many Native American tribes are wary of inviting anyone into their inner circle. So for the early part of my investigation, I had to rely purely on books. On this you had to be careful because you didn't really know the writers background, so they could just be leading you on.
I had joined a group on Tribe.net that dealt with shamans. A Cree friend Way of the Spirit, invited me to join her group, Native American Prayer and Wisdom. It was a great group from which I learned a great many things. I was also invited at this time to join some groups on Yahoo, Native American Family, Native American Circle, amongst others. I started really learning quite a lot. I also took the things I had taught myself and gave back. Eventually, Way of the Spirit decided to leave Tribe.net and asked if I would take over her group. So for the next six years or so, I dedicated myself to learning and teaching. I would often post things I found on Yahoo and shared things that I was being taught.
I wondered if this was my path because it felt more at home than I had ever been in the church. I had to drop my kids off one Christmas Eve morning and had time to kill before going to my in-laws for lunch. I decided to go out and spend some time at the reservation. Getting there I found the gate was closed, so I went down Bell Rock Road to the water hole and sat there and said my prayers and gave an offering of tobacco as I had been taught. I closed my eyes and laid back across the granite boulder there.
You will come to be known as White Wolf. This is your path. Continue to learn the healing ways for you were once a great healer. You will be again, when the time comes.
Creator? How will I know what to do? I have no teacher. I only learn what my friends share with me. How can I learn to heal others?
You are thinking in narrow ways. There are more ways to heal than using herbs or prayers. Look back over your life. You have always been a healer. You have always brought comfort to others and helped them through difficult times, by your words. Words are powerful medicine. They can raise a person up, or dash them down. Your words bring healing to others. Remember when you were a youth minister? Did you not bring healing to others there. You did not feel you belonged, but you were where you needed to be. Know that you are never alone and that I am always here to help you.
I wish I could believe all this. I feel like damaged goods at times, especially after my breakdown.
Do you recall what you learned about shamans. They often journeyed within and were torn down or apart by their spirit guides. Then they were made anew. You did this in real life. You were stripped of all those things that clouded your mind and kept you from seeing your true path. There will be a time in the future when all that you are learning will come back to you and you will know why you have had to endure the things you have gone through. Just know that your words are powerful. Even the most casual word may have a positive affect on someone's life.
I wish I could believe it all. I really do.
I will give you a sign. Today you will receive a drum with a wolf on it. This will be my sign to you. Seeing this, know that even the strangest thing that is asked of you, has purpose. Now go, it is getting late and people will start worrying about you.
Wado Creator. I give thanks to you.

I headed out to my in-laws with this whole "dream" in the back of my head. The food was great, everyone was laughing and having a good time. The time came for gifts. They were passed around, and as usual, wrappings were thrown at my sister-in-law Cheryl. I sure do miss her. Then a gift was passed to me. I opened and saw the face staring back and me and almost broke down right there. There was the wolf drum. I think my reaction caught my mother-in-law off guard. She thought I didn't like it. How could I tell her what I had just gone through?

Later, after relating this to a Cherokee friend, she said that the name was most fitting for me as she had been watching me. She said that in Cherokee mythology, the wolf was seen as a pathfinder and teacher. She said that I have been doing that in the groups, showing people the way and teaching. She said that I lived up to my name and gave me my Tsalagi name, Unega Waya, White Wolf.

Well, my journey continued on for many years after that. I have continued to learn and grow and give back as I could. I have kept my heart open and welcome most everyone to my circle. One day, I may come to understand this path I have been led on. I do not regret taking that first step. I have experienced a great many things. When asked to go to New Mexico and perform a ceremony it became a mission. A mission of love for all people and a prayer of unity. I was led to create a symbol of that unity. The sacred turtle. On its back is the representation of the four races, red, yellow, black, and white, with the center section of the shell being the coming together of all. It is my prayer that we can somehow make it through all that we are going through. That the blinders of separation will be removed and that we will see beyond doubt what the Lakota have always said, Mitakuye Oyasin. We are all related.
My heart to your heart, one heart, one spirit.

Year of Balance - Yet More Ripples

"GULFPORT, Miss. - Scientists say the Gulf oil spill could get into the what's called the Loop Current within a day, eventually carrying oil south along the Florida coast and into the Florida Keys. "

A few articles back, I spoke of ripples. Basically it is the following of the affects of our decisions and the affect it has on other people and things. Now, we have a prime example of those ripples. Our continued dependence on fossil fuels and the profits that can be made by those companies who harvest those resources have led us to something that could end up being one of the worst disasters known to man.

From Seal on the Raw Wisdom group on Tribe.net, "If we can't cap that hole that oil is going to destroy the oceans of the world. It only takes one quart of motor oil to make 250,000 gallons of ocean water toxic to wildlife. Are you starting to get the magnitude of this? "

When the gas prices hit $4 a gallon, everyone was all behind new energy. Then when the prices backed down to below $3, the fervor for new energy resources backed off. Our appetite for oil has not abated. And now, it seems we are going to pay for that. Or rather, people on the gulf coast are going to pay. If some of the other things I have read come to pass and it gets worse and cannot be capped, then the headline I quoted at the beginning of this may just come to pass. Only, it may not stop there as it then will travel around the Keys and into the Gulf Stream. Imagine if this gets into the Everglades and kills off the wildlife there. No more Manatees. No more Egrets, Pelicans. Our desire for low cost gas and oil and continued dependence may very well destroy the lives of many other species.

The implications do not end there as according to one report I saw, Louisiana provides 21% of all the seafood for the South. Did you like that shrimp dip at your last party? What do you think will happen to the price of shrimp when you lose all the Gulf Coast production? Ripples. We demanded low cost oil to the point that even the President caved into the demands to "Drill, baby, Drill!". He was close to authorizing opening more wells off the east coast. That, fortunately, has been put on hold due to this disaster.

As to the cleanup, BP is supposedly offering a whopping $10 an hour to people to help. However, you also have to sign a non-disclosure. Same with the crane operators and off-shore workers. Plus they have to sign a release against any after effects from exposure to the oil. If this is true, they should talk to those who helped with the Exxon Valdez spill about the health issues they are having now. These oil companies have been making billions and when stuff happens, they just want to walk away.

Yet, if the demand dried up. If we all pressed for new energy sources that were clean, safe, and not harmful to the environment or people. Maybe, just maybe, things like this would not happen. Maybe it is time to have a new mindset. All those roofs that face the sun every day, and yet, where are the solar panels? All those big cornfields, could they not also harbor a few wind turbines? We have to stop depending on the government to do the right thing. We have to take responsibility for this. Every one of us who drives a car, heats our house, turns on a light. We have to come together now and pray with all our heart that the Creator can mitigate the damage done. We have to vow to look at ourselves and the way we live and how we can change. Can we find a way to put solar panels on our roofs? Do we have room on our property for a wind turbine? Can we demand that any new construction include designs to take advantage of solar power or any other power that can lessen our demand on fossil fuels? We are destroying this planet fast. Stop listening to the naysayers regarding global warming. Even if global warming is a myth, the idea of reducing CO2 emissions and cleaning the air, the water, and cleaning up the land is not a myth. It is time to stop thinking it is someone else's problem. We are all to blame for what happened in the Gulf. The affects of that could go far beyond the Gulf. It may hit the Keys and ruin their tourist trade for decades. If it gets beyond there and into the Gulf stream, well, get a map and see just how far it can go. It could very well affect every beach on the East Coast. How is that with summer coming on? Sorry, you can't swim in the water today, beach closed due to oil.

Forgive me, if I have gone on a tirade. It is just so frustrating because in our hearts, we all know that we should have done something a long time ago. How long ago did Earth Day start? Yet we continue to ignore the warnings. We continue to drive big SUVs. We continue to use old boilers to heat our homes. We continue to devote our precious dollars on the latest gizmos and gadgets but nothing to trying to utilize the sun to provide electricity or heat our hot water even. The thing is, I know that a lot of this stuff is expensive. Cindy and I have looked at it and unfortunately where we live we can't get any credits so we would bear the whole cost. So for now, we research and plan until we find a way to pay. But there are others of you that can afford it now. Look at what happened to big screen HD TVs. The price of those things were upwards to $6,o00 when they first came out. Now you can get one at Walmart for under a $1,000. If more people got on board, manufacturers would eventually be able to lower prices so that everyone could afford them. The thing is, we have to change our focus. Instead of having people ooohing and ahhing over our new I-Pad, how about showing them that new solar array and show them how your meter spins backwards as you could potentially sell power back to the grid. If we could generate more electricity that way, then maybe that would make electric cars and motorcycles more viable.

The point is we have to decide which is more important? All these material goods or our planet?
Please take a few moments out of your day and really look at the implications of what that oil spill can do.

My heart to your heart, one heart, one spirit.

Year of Balance - Fear Holds Us Back

“Each time we face our fear, we gain strength, courage, and confidence in the doing.” - Unknown

I want to move past the fear that our political climate is using to try to manipulate us and control us. I think if we can look to our root fears and work on erasing them, we can limit the power that fear wields over us and that others will use to try to control our thoughts and feelings.
When we think about fear, the very first fears we most likely encountered had to deal with survival. As newborns we were always looking for our mothers. When they weren't around, we would feel the fear of abandonment well up and we would respond by crying until we were once again in our mothers arms. As we grew other things started to affect us. If there was a lot of angry voices in the house, we could feel the tension, and learn to fear loud noises. Maybe as a young one, we were crawling on the floor when the family dog came over and started licking us or barking at us and this first encounter could cause us to grow up fearing dogs. Over time, we accumulate these events that trigger fear.
I have also heard/read that we may also carry fears from prior lives. Maybe in a prior life we were convicted of being a witch and burned at the steak. In this life, that manifests as a deep fear of fire. Maybe we were a whaler and had been thrown overboard by a rogue wave and now we were fearful of water. Of course, the opposite could be true as we could have had a good experience that we now find we are drawn to for unknown reasons.
Throughout history, the powers that be, whether government or religion, have used fear as a great tool to get people to comply with their vision of how the world should be. It could have been the fire and brimstone preacher who proclaims that if we don't listen to them and comply with their vision of what God wants, we are doomed to burn for eternity in hell. Governments push the vision that ours is the best country and others that are different are evil and we need to beware of them. They push the idea that theses evil hoards will come in the night and steal our children. Look at the fear that was stirred up in the cold war. Children were indoctrinated into this realm of fear by having them get under their desks in air raid drills. Of course, if the Russians did indeed drop the bomb, that desk was not going to do them a bit of good. Some of the nonsense is so blatant that anyone with any sense should see it, like the Iranian cleric who is blaming women for the earthquakes around the world. Yet, there will be many who will listen to him and want to punish the women into complying with the cleric's vision of how women should act.
If we want to free ourselves from being manipulated by fear, I believe that first we have to sit down with ourselves and write down all the things that we are fearful of. What scares us. Is there anything that petrifies us to the point that we are unable to function? Is this fear "legitimate" like facing an uncaged lion who hasn't eaten in four weeks? Or can it be something that many call irrational, like the fear of a bubble or balloon. Yet, in each fear, they have a root cause. Maybe as a baby we were exposed to loud noises and associated them with the popping of balloons. So maybe that fear is not really of the balloon itself, but rather the expectation of it blowing up.
That brings us to one of the things that if we can begin to realize, we might be able to overcome, expectation. How much fear is based on the expectation real or imagined? Do we become paralyzed by these expectations of bad things?
If we want to stop religions and governments from controlling us, we must learn to recognize those fear triggers and find a way to overcome them. The first thing to do is to recognize those things that scare us, whether physical such as a dog or snake, or environmental like loss of job, loved one, or home.
Try creating a journal, if you don't all ready do it. Over the next month, each day, right down some of the things that caused you fear or discomfort through the day. Don't stop to analyze them at this time, just jot them all down. Once you are done, read back through them. Ask yourself of each one, when was the first time you felt this? Can you think back through your history to an event that may have triggered this? Write it down. I believe that as we do this, we are recognizing the root cause of our fear and then we might exorcise these demons from ourselves. Of course, if it is true that we carry some from life to life, that could be difficult unless you can do a past life regression to go back through your stored memories of previous lives.
Even if we could eliminate just one fear in doing this exercise, I believe it is a huge step. If we can just overcome one fear in our life, we teach ourselves that all fears can be overcome. That doesn't mean that overcoming your fear of hungry tigers will allow you to stand there in front of a hungry tiger smacking his lips. I think survival kicks in there, which is a more natural and protective rather than learned fear.
If we can learn to face and overcome our fear, then those who use fear to manipulate and control us will lose their power. We will learn to stop listening to the fear-mongering and use the plethora of tools, the library, the Internet, and even the media to learn for ourselves the truth, or rather our truth. We will no longer single source our news, but rather search out opposing viewpoints so that we can get a balanced view and make our own opinions. Of course, we can remain lazy and just get spoon-fed our opinions and allow fear to continue to be used as a tool to shape our views and control us.
I pray that you can overcome whatever fear has held you back. Sometimes it is that very fear that prevents us from reaching the fulfillment of our human potential. Open your heart, open your mind, and become.
My heart to your heart, one heart, one spirit.

Year of Balance - Conguering Fear

Probably one of the greatest impediments to finding balance is facing the multitude of fear in our life. What we are inherently fearful of because of our own history is enough to prevent anyone from reaching the fulfillment of who we could be. What makes matters worse is the nonsense that we are besieged with, like the current political climate, where fear is used as a tool to get people riled up and ignoring truth in order to "win". All of this nonsense lately has been really turning my stomach. What is worse is the misinformation being used to rile people up is then passed on and on getting even more riled up. Fear spreading fear.

One example is the untruth that is constantly being spoken about how Obama gave away money to the financial institutions and they took it and had a good time. Yet, what is not told is that while it was George Bush who initiated TARP and gave out the first round with no strings, Obama put strings on the second round. It was because of those strings that much of that second round of TARP funds were paid back. Huh? What? It was paid back. Eyyuup. Didn't seem to make the nightly news because of all the Tea Party talk.

Now, let me ask a question. After all that hullabaloo, what has really changed in your life? Let me point out what could have changed if the financial system collapsed because we just let these institutions get what they deserved. I worked for a company back in the 80's that manufactured heavy equipment. The company really took care of its employees. We had a good medical plan. We were paid good wages. The economy was in a slow down. The inventory was stacking up. We cut production to keep from getting too deep in debt. Then the worst thing that could possibly happen happened. Bank of New England collapsed. We are only talking one bank here, but the affect was horrible. The government at the time took over the bank and set up RECOLL who's soul purpose was to recall all the outstanding loans. With the economy down, the inventory up, and nothing in the pipe, the company couldn't get new financing. The owner of the company called everyone into the main factory and with tear filled eyes, told the workers that he was going to have to have the first layoff in company history. He was hoping that in doing so, he could stave off the hounds at the door and keep the company from being shut down. Eventually, I was called into the CFOs office and told to go sign up for unemployment because RECOLL was asking for more money than the company could come up with and they weren't sure if they could pay us much longer. Fortunately, for me, I got a phone call for a job interview just as I went back into my office to grab my jacket. However, while I was fortunate, the company was not. It eventually was sold to a group and most of the people either moved on or were let go. It is still there, but it is no longer that company that really took care of its employees. Other companies were not as fortunate and had to shut down. That was just because of one bank. Can you imagine the impact on an all ready faltering economy had they allowed many of those banks to shut down? The ripple affect?

I really wanted to talk about personal fears and demons, but I just wanted to point out how our current political environment works on our fears to try to direct public opinion. If they can obfuscate the truth enough, they can get the populous on their side and prevent any real change from happening. How do we fight this? We arm ourselves with truth. In the tech world, we have a saying, Google is your friend. Well Google, Bing, Yahoo, whatever is your favorite or all of them, you can search out something and try to verify it yourself. Stop eating up the fear. Stop feeding the fear. Learn the truth and it will set you free.

Now for a moment, let us talk about personal fear. We all carry fear with us throughout our lives. We learn fear at a very young age. Some of us are exposed to more than others. Some have parents who love and protect them and make them feel safe so that fear has less of a touch. I was talking to a psychologist who had done some work with the child abuse victims of the Catholic Church. He told me that you could see a distinct difference in the reactions between the kids whose parents got angry with them for daring to accuse the priest and the kids whose parents went after the priest or called in the cops. As he put it, the latter kids were made to feel safe despite the horrendous thing that happened to them. All you parents should take heed to that wisdom.

The point is that over the years we are exposed to things that frighten us. Some of us are able to get over these fears. Some of us carry these fears with us through the years. And yet still others, bury the fear and find it resurfaces later in life. Or it remains latent, but can be tapped by those who know how to manipulate people. When we learn to free ourselves from fear, we take away a huge weapon from those who wish to manipulate and control us. We just have to learn not to give in to the fear.

Speaking of those who would use the fear to manipulate us, there was a recent news report regarding a Powerpoint presentation that had been forgotten in a hotel room. It was reported that there was a seminar for Republican fund raisers and this presentation was part of the presentation on how to get people to donate. Now for the richer donors it said to simply play to their vanity. Offer them gifts, coffee mugs, tickets, etc. For the rest, put the fear of God into them that any change brought by the Dems is going to destroy the country and ruin their lives. If you watched the discourse during the Health Care debate, it appeared to have worked. So much misinformation was passed around as truth that many got caught up in it and just started passing the same crap around to others. Our fears were played with and we took it.

So how do we change ourselves? How do we overcome fears, real or perceived? First off, take a breath. Really, for some it is as simple as that. Take a breath and then turn on your bullshit meter. Start asking questions. Does this seem real? Use your favorite search engine, Google, Yahoo, Bing, or whatever and do the research. Stop taking things at face value, especially in this political climate, but do the research. Take the time to arm yourself with the truth. Ask questions about the source. What do they have to gain? Is there a method to their madness? Try to find balance in news reports. If you hear something from Fox News, balance it with something from Huffington Post.

We have enough to deal with all the fears that we carry on our own. We should not allow other people to try to use our inherent fears to control and manipulate us. We need to work to overcome our fears. Go see a counselor, a psychologist, or yeah, even a parent. Work to overcome the fears we carry. Then work on educating ourselves rather than take the easy road of being fed what we should believe by people with agendas. Franklin Roosevelt said, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." Let us all work to move beyond the fear and manipulation.

I pray you strength and courage on your journey.
My heart to your heart, one heart, one spirit.

More Thoughts on Healthcare

Okay, I want to continue talking on health care. I think it is an extremely important subject. My aunt, who is a member of the Tea Party, is adamantly against it. She is of the mindset that we need to cut back on government spending and not have the government involved at all. She believes that providing health care to everyone by the government is one step closer to becoming a communist state like Obama wants. Well, I think that is a stretch. Obama may be part of the problem, but Congress makes the rules and spends the money. Speaking of which, I noted, I think it was Bill Maher in his latest show stated that the Dems are showing their true colors. They were supposedly all for the public option, but said that they couldn't garner enough votes to get it through so they dropped it. Well, with reconciliation they could get it back in, but guess what, now they are against it too. Frankly, between, you, me, and the four walls, they never wanted it in the first place. They are basically showing that they are Republicans in Democrat clothing. Not a one of them is going to vote to upset the insurance cartel. We'd be lucky if any form of health care made it through. I would like to share a comment from a friend on Tribe to my last post:

"The problem is that capitalism doesn't work for any system in which the product supplied is not optional. Healthcare is not something people can or want to "choose". They NEED it. So by default, the supplier(s) has power over the consumer. There is no way for "supply & demand" to rein in supply or costs as the ideal capitalist model should work---the House always wins.

The Massachussetts model's problem is exactly that the consumer is fined so that no one is uncovered, but the insurance behemoth gets off scot free & continues biz as usual---WHERE is the check & balance in this system? Again, supplier/profiteer wins.

That's the problem here, that there are NO checks & balances on healthcare profiteers (insurers, manufacturers, doctors--I'm a doctor & while a small minority, there ARE doctor profiteers, etc) in this country, which is the ONLY way you will ever have a semi-successful private/public dual model. "

It is a very good point that she raised. Actually a few good points, but the big one is that capitalism does not work for a product that is not optional. Everyone needs healthcare. We all need doctors. We agreed that the whole Massachusetts solution is a farce in that it fines the consumer forcing them to get insurance and pay into the system while the insurers can continue with business as usual. The other point is that there are no checks and balances. The insurance companies have free will especially with the last government cutting all the regulations they could. Of course, the removal of regulations has allowed our food supply to be tainted also, but that is another deep subject.

I want to go back to something else that I keep hearing. So many people point to Canada and say that their health care system is abysmal and we don't want to end up like them, so reject any health care reform. Yet, I have seen an article on Facebook where Canadians wrote that they were getting tired of the lies being spread about their health care system. So if many of the Canadians don't think it is so bad, then why are we so afraid of it. Once again, it comes back to the FUD factor (Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt) that the insurance companies have been spreading to keep any type of reform from changing their status quo. Well, since I don't just like to point out things, but also try to put out suggestions, here is one. If their system somewhat works, why don't we, as Americans, take the model that they currently have and improve on it? Heck, if we know what is wrong with some of the socialized medicine systems, why can't we look at all of them and see how the other systems resolved the problem. We have a clean slate here. Look at what doesn't work and find a way to make it work, and then do for medicine what we have done for education. We make it free and available to everyone. Plastic surgery like breast enhancement and such would be like going to college, you have to pick up the tab for that, but basic health needs would all be taken care of. We are Americans, we claim to be the best in the world, the brightest in the world, then why do we not have the best health care system in the world? Why is it that we can provide free education to everyone, but not health care?

Of course, there are those who are adamant, that the government should not be providing any form of social services. Given that many cities and towns are looking to close schools now, maybe they have won. Maybe that is why health care is doomed to fail, because those who do believe that it should be a fundamental right, are too laid back, too easy going, that they don't have the viciousness of those who would seek to prevent it.

I heard one Republican Senator state that even if it goes through, the Republicans will be taking by the government next election, so they will be repealing it anyway. Yet, one of the arguments they make is that once this is in place it is set in stone and we will be stuck with it. So which is it?

I can see why many Americans are tuning out. First of all, Congress has shown that they really don't want this. They were making the motions to get votes, but when it came down to it, they sat on their hands and did nothing, even with a majority. They dropped the public option, and barely considered single payor because they said that they didn't have the 2/3 majority to get it past a Republican filibuster. Yet, when someone mentioned reconciliation, their bluff was called and now they are hemming and hawing and backing away from it. Is it any wonder people have no trust in their government? They truly believe and the Supreme Court backs it up, that Corporations own our government.

I am thinking about how to come up with a health care system or what I would like to see and may return to this subject. However, I want to bring up something I just found out. Let me leave you with this. Your company may very well have a life insurance policy out on you. Guess who the beneficiary is? Your company! Neither the insurance company or your company even has to let you know. If you die, your company makes money, not your family. You wouldn't even know about it. You know what they call it? Dead Peasants insurance.

http://deadpeasantinsurance.com/

So peasants! when are you going to wake up and start getting ticked at the way you are being played by corporations, the government, and especially the insurance companies?

Thoughts on Healthcare

There is a lot of talk about health-care. Unfortunately, it is mostly talk . I think one good thing is it has people talking about it. Unfortunately, the insurance companies and others who profit from bad health are spending enormous amounts of money to ensure that changes do not come that will affect their ability to reap millions. They are adamantly opposed to any form of socialized health system or even the public option, or single payer. So they continue to spread FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt) and get many people riled up in total opposition. Some factions of the media have joined in on this. A recent John Stewart video posted on the Huffington Post, was showing just how "fair and balanced" FOX news was. They showed this one reporter and it was like she was pulling numbers out of the air. One time saying that 70% of the people didn't want health care reform, another time 77%, her number kept changing. Meanwhile all the other polls were showing anywhere from 40% or more in favor.

That being said, I would like to point out a 2003 study by the WHO that put France as the number one health care system in the world. The US was number 37. There are those that argue that it is skewed because it also takes into account who is covered. They say that we have the best technology hence we have the best health care. Well, we may have the top surgeons and technology, but who can afford it? So having the best technology, drugs, and surgeons may be great, but if no one can afford it, what good is it?

Another point that people point out is how bad Canada's health care system is. I have been told by people that they have friends that have had to come to the US to get health care because the system is broken in Canada. Some of the FUD that has been spread also says that Canada's system is horrible. Yet, I have read some recent articles/blogs/comments by people living in Canada who are sick and tired of the lies being spread about their system. The thing is, France is still number one. Okay, so why not go to socialized medicine and learn what works and what doesn't in France, Canada, and England and other countries that have socialized medicine. We are starting at ground zero, so rather than just jump in, learn, find solutions and then deliver the best health-care in the world. Health-care that covers all the people. And please don't give me the argument about our taxes going up. Yes, initially they will. Your deduction for health-care will get rolled into the taxes section. So it could very well end up being a wash and your net pay may not change. Besides that, one of the things that I point out when people throw that argument at me is this, "What is the fastest growing deduction from your paycheck? Taxes? Not hardly. Health-care!". As a matter of fact, some people in California were to be treated to a 39% increase in their health care costs. This despite the insurance company making millions in profits. Is it any wonder they are spending millions to spread fear, uncertainty, and doubt to get people to stay with the status quo?

Yet others point to the "Massachusetts Model". They say that Mass. has a great system. Well, yes and no. If you cannot afford coverage, then you can buy into this cheaper insurance the state is offering. Hmmm, sounds a lot like the public option that so many are afraid of. So you can continue to get insurance through your company, or if self-employed, through a co-op, or other set up, or buy into the Mass Health plan, "the public option". Doesn't that sound great, just what was being proposed. Okay, now here is the dark side of that which no one speaks of. If you do not get insurance, the state will fine you. You cannot "opt out", you have to have insurance. As a matter of fact, we get sent forms every year that we have to sign stating we have insurance. So if you don't the state will go after you. Now let's see what the state is doing about the insurance companies and what they cover or don't, level of deductibles, copays, and rates. Um, nothing, nada, bupkiss. The insurance companies are free to raise their rates, deductibles, copays, and reduce coverage at will. No one is stopping them. So in the end, the state basically becomes the muscle for the insurance mafia. So quite naturally, the insurance companies aren't going to fight that option, because in the end more people are forced to pay their premiums while they can at the same time raise rates, raise copays, raise deductibles, and reduce coverage. Frankly, I would be more inclined to just pay the government, where if they continued to raise taxes at the rate the insurance companies raise their rates, we could vote them out, impeach them, we could do something. We can't do anything with the insurance companies.

Of course, we have been led to believe that socialism is a bad thing. We are pointed to the corrupt versions of it from the old Soviet Union. Those who do not want socialized medicine try to scare everyone into believing that we are on that path to socialism and Obama is going to be the dictator. Oh puh-lease. Yes, the Soviet Union was a corrupt system of communism. China is also a corrupt version of communism. France is a socialist country and it seems to work for them. As the recent financial and economic meltdown in the US brought to light, we have a corrupt version of capitalism. So if communism is bad, and capitalism is bad, in the meantime France and England, two socialized countries seem to be working out, maybe socialism is the answer. When I was in college, I had once course where they taught about the stages of civilization. The way it was presented to me was that capitalism was the lower stage, then you progress to socialism, then to communism. The point that was brought out about countries like the then, USSR, and China, was that they jumped straight to communism without going through the other stages. This brought about the seeds of corruption that gave us the negative examples of communism.

I would like to point out another culture, which there are still some right here in the US where communism works. The old hippy communes. People came together and got off the grid and worked as a community for the common good. Everyone helped out with building, farming, and the other tasks that were needed by the community. Of course, that isn't the first culture to do just that. In fact, many of your pre-European indigenous cultures had lived that way for centuries. If you read about the Native American cultures in America prior to the European influence, you would find that they all worked together for the common good. You really want to blow your mind, read about the Lakota ceremony called the Giveaway. They would give away all that they owned. Of course, there never was a worry that you wouldn't survive in doing so, because everyone took care of everyone. Can you imagine giving away all your things?

Well, that is enough food for thought regarding socialism and other societies. I have other ideas on health care.

A story on Chronicle on the Boston Channel 5 last year spoke about the spate of general practitioners in the US. In the story, one GP said how they lost their GP and was having a hard time finding one that was accepting new patients. If a doctor can't find a doctor, then how the heck are the rest of us supposed to. Part of the problems is that more and more are going into specialties because frankly that is where the money is. It is costing more and more just to get the degree, let alone the burden of malpractice insurance afterward. So with less and less GPs, more people end up going to the emergency room for simple things like colds or bumps and bruises or minor stitches that could be handled in a doctors office. Of course, many doctors complain that they don't have the time to spend with patients half the time because insurance companies put pressure on them to spend only about fifteen minutes with a patient. Not hardly time enough to get to know a patient which is another failing of allopathic medicine, but that is another subject.

If we had a form of socialized medicine, then we could do as the military does. We could offer to put people interested in the medicine field through college. The give back would be that for each year they attend college, they would give back a year working as a general practitioner. This would allow some of the brilliant people who may not have the means to become doctors, but have the heart, to enter into the system. I know that if they offered something like that for psychology, I would be the first in line and would be quite willing to work for the state or government for an equivalent number of years. After you put in your time, then if you wanted to go into a specialty then you could go take classes on your own and move into a specialty, but at least we would have a constant pool of people coming into the system to replace those leaving. That pool of people would be based not on who could afford to become a doctor, but people who had the aptitude and heart to become doctors. So maybe it might just improve the quality of health care also. The plus for the doctors is that they aren't starting off with the burden of debt that many doctors have to deal with these days.

Now I would like to briefly touch on malpractice insurance. We do seriously need to put some common sense back into our court system. When a person can buy a hot cup of coffee from a store, put it between their lap while driving and then open the top to put in creme and sugar, and then whoops, spill it on themselves and burn their crotch, and then, oh yeah, sue and win thousands of dollars, we have a serious problem. I am under the impression that with malpractice, you basically pay a premium based on your specialty and potentiality for suit. What if it was more like car insurance. If you are a new doctor, you pay a slightly higher premium that goes down over time as you gain experience and show that you have no suits against you. If you have a minor suit, then you get "points" added and have to pay a higher premium for a number of years until you show that there is no repeat occurrences. Of course those who have a lot get assigned into the high risk pool. Though, if they have that many, I would hope that they would politely be asked to just quit practicing because obviously, they don't get it.

The thing is, we will never have a good health care system, let alone a great one, until we can move beyond our hoarder mentality and start thinking from fear that we never have enough so we can share what we have. We need to get to a point where we place the common good above all else and not base health care and other such needs purely on who has the most and therefore deserves it. Everyone deserves the opportunity to have good health. Unfortunately, our government continues to allow corporations to poison our environment so that much of our health issues are because of toxins put into the environment by corporations. Our government has failed us there. So it is understandable that people would be fearful of them taking on health care. These corporations are dumping toxins not only into our environment, but also into our food supply. The organic food community is under assault right now as these corporations are trying to loosen the regulations so they can put their GMO foods into that chain also. As part of a whole health care redo, we need to do a root cause analysis as to what is going into our systems and making us sick. Those who think that global warming is a sham, should look at it a different way. The same solutions that those who want to stop global warming espouse, can help to clean up our environment and make us healthier and less reliant on health care to start with. If we can clean up our air, our streams, and stop dumping toxins in the ground that end up in our food, then maybe we all can live and breath much healthier. Of course, those who have a dollar to make will spend as much as they can to refute anything that could make our lives better.

It's time that we the people, took back our government and started thinking as a community instead of living in fear of never having enough. Only when we start thinking of the common good and get our minds out of materialism and the need to have and fear of not, can we find true solutions to benefit all.

My heart to your heart, one heart, one spirit.

Year of Balance - We Are All Connected

Like it or not, we truly are all connected. As I have pointed out in previous postings, the things we do, or in some cases, don't do, can have far reaching impact. There are many people who are rising up and trying to drown out those who are warning us of global warming. Sensing the impact if the "greenies" take hold, they are bringing all guns to bear. They are trying to refute global warming and claim it is junk science, despite the evidence we can see with our own eyes. The glacial range in Glacier Nation Park has been receding. The polar ice cap has been melting. The weather has been strange. Those who are trying to drown out the voices of those who would try to bring awareness to the problem, point out that we have had some very serious snow storms. They point to that and say there is your proof, we have had more snow than ever, how can we be warming? Well, scientists have all ready told us why. They told us that the weather patterns would change and we could have more serious consequences. The severe snow storms experienced recently are more a sign that global warming is intensifying. I can hear some of you say it, Huh? I don't' get it. The planet is warming up so we get deeper more powerful snowstorms? Well, think for a moment, where does snow come from? It is the moisture content in the air that releases and because the air is cold, freezes on the way down. Where does the moisture come from? Evaporation. Grade school science told us that the earth is warmed and it releases its moisture into the atmosphere through evaporation. As it gathers in the sky, it creates the clouds and when the clouds become saturated, it releases the moisture back to the ground in the form of rain, sleet or snow. So as the earth heats up, it releases even more moisture in the air, which creates larger, more powerful storms. Now if the polar ice cap is melting and the large bodies of water like the Great Lakes are not freezing over like hey used to, there is even more water to be released into the atmosphere. As more moisture accumulates, there is more to be released. So the snow storms and come spring, the rain storms, will intensify. But of course, our grade school teachers were only teaching junk science so no worries right?
The other disturbing thing I am seeing is more and more commercials telling people we need to drill for oil in this country. They will tell you that we have a lot of untapped resources. Resources that those nasty groups, World Wildlife Foundation, The Sierra Club, and many other "green" groups besides our own government won't let them access. They tell us that getting at the oil is much more important than preserving wildlife habitat. Reminds me of the people from Avatar, doesn't it? In the movie, they wanted the resources that were under where the indigenous people lived. I could draw some other parallels to the fate of the many indigenous cultures all over the world, but I don't want to stray too far. Now one place that has been pointed to as a potential resource is Yellowstone Park. Now can anyone tell me what a caldera is? From Wikipedia: A caldera is a cauldron-like volcanic feature usually formed by the collapse of land following a volcanic eruption such as the ones at Yellowstone National Park in the US and Glen Coe in Scotland. Now there is an active volcanic feature sitting there in Yellowstone National Park. That is why there are so many sulfuric acid pools and geysers in the park. They want to drill in that area. From what I have been told, if that caldera blew, the ash and dust would blot the sky all the way to the east coast. Do you really want to play around in that area? Yet those who are blind with dollar signs don't want to hear "junk science".
The other thing that is disturbing is the increase in commercials lately for "clean coal". Trust me, there is nothing clean about coal. Slapping a label on it and putting it in front of as many people as you can so that they equate clean with coal, does not make it so. From the very mining of it, which can leach arsenic and other heavy metals into the streams and rivers in the surrounding communities, to the level of CO2 that is emitted from the power stations that utilize this stuff, it is no way near clean. I all ready have spoken about the ramifications of the mining for coal and uranium has had on their local communities.
The point is that we have to stop destroying everything to get our energy. Even if you don't believe in global warming, you have to at least believe in breathing cleaner air, having safe water to drink, being able to eat the fish you catch in your local streams. In the movie Avatar, the people who wanted the resources under the land, did the same thing we did to many of the indigenous people around the world and, sad to say, still are. They cut a swath through the forest as they headed to the indigenous peoples land. They destroyed everything in their path. The plan was to destroy their home so they will move. They did just that. There was a big difference between the movie and real life though.
The major difference is that where Tecumseh and others failed, the indigenous people came together as one to fight back. Not trying to slight my Native American friends, but in the movie they remained connected. I wish I could remember more details of the movie. All I know is that I saw so many parallels to what happened to the many indigenous cultures around the world. Most of them lived in harmony and balance with their world. They even gave thanks to the animals that gave of their life so they may eat. I could see why the Church and powers that be don't like the movie.
What was most disturbing was this beautiful world that was being destroyed just so the corporation could reap profits from the resources on the world. Not much different than what is going on in this one. We are all connected. We can change the world for the better. What it will take is for all of us to understand that we are all connected.
Let me leave you with one more thing. Studies that were done regarding our ability to influence things were done using RNG (Random Number Generator) machines. These machines could generate a zero or one 50/50. They then brought people in to try to influence the machine and they found that we can alter the outcome. When they brought in two people, the result just about quadrupled. When they brought in related pairs, husband-wife, husband-daughter, son-mother, they found a ten time increase. They added other studies around prayer groups and found that they did have an influence. This is the power of connection. This is the power we all possess. We can come together as one people just as they did in Avatar. We can bring about that beautiful world that we all dreamed about. We can demand that our leaders find alternative, safe, energy sources. We can demand that corporations start putting people before profits. Or we can, stay disconnected from each other and allow those who are in power because we gave away ours, destroy this world in order to line their pockets. We can have the power of connection. We have the power of numbers. All we have to do is reconnect. In doing so, we can move towards that world of beauty, harmony, and balance.
My heart to your heart, one heart, one spirit.