Reflections of the Unemployed Week - 12

Week twelve has come and gone so quickly. I have been busy blogging politics, sifting through my enormous database of photos and spending time with my family. It was announced today that I have won a photo contest on Quadsville.com, small but notable as it was my first contest, the photo will appear in our local "Quad City Times" this Sunday. I was so excited to look for that next photo for the next contest but learned that I can only win once in four weeks. Although I am still allowed to participate. The perfect photo op presented itself while watching my Grandsons. The theme of the contest is "Strawberry Fields" and my precious Grandsons were doing strawberries in each others faces, how convenient.

My last blog "Illinois Senate Ok's Medical Marijuana" has introduced me to new friends with the same medical condition as myself, Fibromyalgia isn't something I normally discuss. I don't want to appear to be a whiner, its just something I "deal with" but felt under the circumstances, that I must put in my two cents for the sake of others. It also allowed me to meet others with different conditions, fighting the fight to legalize Marijuana. I've found myself writing many letters to my public servants regarding many other issues as well and it feels good to be doing something productive while unemployed. You can write yours at Congress.org

I was surprised this week to find more jobs in the newspaper than online and dutifully updated my resume' and composed cover letters. My writing skills seem to have improved and I wrote some awesome cover letters but wonder if they could be too good. I do have to admit, my strongest asset is my business writing skills and combining that skill with my creative writing skills has made a big difference in the final product. The advantage of "mailing" a cover letter and resume' vs. filling out an online application is quite evident now. Sometimes I surprise myself.

I'm still contemplating the school option and my new friends have given me some good ideas for freelancing and ideas for books. A week from today I will be taking a little jaunt to house sit for my cousin for the weekend, not that I don't have a lot of "self" time here but I am looking forward to being surrounded with wildlife and the beautiful view at their home overlooking the Mississippi River. I hope it will be inspiring as well as meditative. Camera and laptop will be in tow.

Peace
Liz

George Bush and Tony Blair Love Song

This was way too funny not to pass up posting...

Reflections of the Unemployed Week - 11

It is now week 11 of being unemployed. Nothing new really to report. I want to thank everyone who has commented on my writing. At least I feel like I'm being productive and I'm making a few bucks in the process (and I do mean, only a "few" bucks) I could easily spend an eight hour day writing about whats going on in the news and I have a few odd ideas just for giggles but I, for some reason, feel guilty spending so much time at the computer because its not a "real job". I've made more money from just one poem than I have over a dozen blog posts. It was enough to purchase two pair of much needed glasses at the time but my poetic muse seems to have left me and who has the entrance fees anyway to enter contests? But I sure could use a pair of bifocals.

My newest endeavor is entering some of my photos in contests being hosted by a couple of big nature magazines and I've been sorting through hundreds of my photos. I don't carry my camera with me at all times, which I'm learning I should. I was leaving the grocery store on Friday and sitting at the red light, it began raining feathers. My first thought was that a bird was hit by a car but the feathers continued to fall in front of my van. I glanced up to see where they were falling from and on the top of a telephone poll, on one of our cities busiest streets was a Redtail Hawk, defeathering his dinner, one feather at a time. Now that was a shot for a Nature Photo contest (kicking self in rear for not having camera).

In the news from the workforce, more businesses are closing and more layoffs are coming on June 1st from Alcoa. One of the businesses closing is a car dealership and its not a GM dealership and a tanning salon closed its doors unexpectedly last week. I'm a bit discouraged on the job hunting, there's not much out there and our community is saturated with people looking. Every so often, the thought of relocating comes to mind but who has the money to relocate and where would one go? Its the same story nearly everywhere.

I've been spending a lot of time with the Grandsons and now that the weather is nicer we can spend more time outside. Last week I drug their toys outside and let them play until dark. Joseph learned how to climb "down" stairs, only one stair off the deck so he's in no danger, however he found the cellar doors and climbed to the top, I heard him whimpering around the corner only to find him stuck. I was running around the yard with the camera and asked Joseph what he was doing "way up there", he stopped whimpering and threw his hands in the air, indicating he really didn't know. Geffory learned how to fly helicopters and I had to teach him how not to crunch them all up in his hands before he tossed them in the air, otherwise they wouldn't fly. They have provided many great photo ops. Geffory is quite the ham and when he's doing something he deems interesting enough I hear "Grandma, take a picture". If only I knew where to send those photos?

Peace
Liz

What Gives with GITMO?

Something about the flack that President Obama is receiving over his decision to keep GITMO open and the reporting of his decision to detain a number of prisoners being held just didn't ring complete to me. I'm not even trusting my own "Watchdog's" reporting any more.

On the "Rachel Maddow Show" last evening, Rachel criticized Obama for his "Radical new claim in Presidential power, which has never been attempted in American History before".

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If Rachel is referring to the Presidents suggestion of "Reform", Rachel is mistaken. In an article from October 20th, 2005, Supreme Court Justice, Sandra Day O'Conner in an address to West Point Academy Cadets, spoke out for "clearer and more high-minded rules governing the detention and interrogation of prisoners in the war on terrorism". President Obama recollected, in his speech that in 2006, he "strongly opposed legislation proposed by the Bush administration and passed by the Congress because it failed to establish a legitimate legal framework with the kind of meaningful due process, rights, for the accuses that could stand up on appeal." In light of those statements it is clear that the "reform" in which Obama is talking about has been an ongoing issue, not one that "has never been attempted before".

Rachel also failed to mention that Obama was referring to "captured prisoners of war" when he stated that he would prevent them from harming Americans. According to the Geneva Convention Document adopted August 12, 1949, prisoners of war can be detained until the close of the conflict (Article 118). If you question whether or not we are technically at war, the beginning of the document defines and answers that question for you. It was a very informative and interesting read.

I was able to obtain a transcript of the speech of President Obama and he does not claim that he is going to "Redefine" the rule of law, only to "Reform" it, making it more "Clear" as Sandra Day O'Conner also thought was necessary in 2005. If it were more clear we may not be going through this circus right now. Nor did the President say the detainees would be detained indefinitely, he said in regards to the "prolonged detention" that our goal is to construct a legitimate legal framework for the remaining Guantanamo detainees that cannot be transferred". One should not assume that "prolonged" means "indefinite" as it surly does not in the dictionary.

What I got from the speech was that we will detain these prisoners until the President can construct a "legitimate legal framework" and not by himself but with "judicial and congressional oversight". Once that happens, it still has to be approved by the Senate does it not? And we have plenty of time if we can detain them until the conflict is over. Its a packaged deal with ending the war.

On a different note, a small community in Montana has asked for some of the detainees be transferred there and here we sit, or I do, in Illinois where North of us in Thompson, there sits a nearly brand new "EMPTY" prison. Why don't we utilize that and in the process produce more jobs? I'm writing my letters to my representatives. I'm not afraid of having them in my state, that argument is ridiculous and being instigated by the "Republican Conspiracy" to maintain a state of fear across our Nation.

Article by Elizabeth Hall
5/22/09

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The Republican Conspiracy

Its almost sickening to watch the news anymore. Whats up with the Republicans these days? In the beginning there was the stimulus package and the Republicans refusing to pass the bill. President Obama, in an attempt to appease them (being bipartisan) compromised by incorporating some of their interests into the bill and yet they still boycotted it. There were numerous delays in approving his appointments to his cabinet. They were acting like children, testing the new babysitter and in the process wasting time and money and to accomplish what?

They continue to behave like children, especially a handful of them. Cheney, who is no longer a public servant to the Country, continues to antagonize the President and the American People. As evidenced in the below video, Cheney continues to twist the news, leaving out pertinent information to his statements and invoking fear into the people as usual.

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Rachel Maddow digs up contradictions in Cheney's speeches comparing "Then" and "Now". At least in Cheney's attempts to discredit the President, Cheney is discrediting himself and has admitted to torture.

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Special Commentary by Keith Olbermann...Give 'em Hell Keith!

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I keep trying to find the rationalization in these actions by the Republican Party. I can find none. At best, I believe they are upset over President Obama having won the election, they don't appear to want the "War on Terror" to end and are continuing to use "fear" tactics to sway the American People into coming back to their side. But Why?

Rush Limbaugh was interviewed by Glenn Beck Yesterday, May 21, 2009,("Rush to Judgement") and seems to think we will "realize we made a mistake". They know they have done wrong by the Country during the Bush Administration and are trying to "Justify" their actions. In addition I believe, and its just my opinion that they are relentlessly trying to make the President look bad to his voters and possibly make him crack under pressure.

Thus far President Obama has remained unflappable and is earnestly trying to improve the image of America and bring us back to being a "law biding" Country. It appears to me that at this point in time our biggest adversary is the G.O.P. rather than the countries abroad. They are dividing the Nation and looking out for the best interest of themselves and as I've said before, our elected officials are supposed to be working for "we the people", not "they the republicans".


Article by Elizabeth A. Hall
5/22/09

(I had wanted to comment on the GITMO issue but am finding that I have too much to say and it will have to be another blog. Hopefully I will have it posted by this evening.)

Why We Believe in Conspiracies

Ironically in the "Scientific America Magazine that came in the mail yesterday (June 2009 pg 36), there is an article called "Agenticity" by Michael Shermer. Michael Shermer asks the question why do we believe in "souls, spirits, ghosts, gods, demons, angels, alien, intelligent designers" AND "Government Conspirators".

He answers the question in two parts, first explaining the meaning of his coined term "patternicity", he defines it as "the human tendency to find meaningful patterns in meaningless noise". He does state that there are some patterns that are real, such as those found in science of course, (And in my own opinion, the Kennedy Assassination conspiracy)

"The problem" he says "is that we did not evolve a baloney-detection device in our brains to discriminate between true and false patterns." On the positive side of the coin, because of this animal instinct we have survived the ages. "But" he goes on to say, we do something other animals do not do...we have the capacity to be aware of such mental states of desires and intentions in both ourselves and others--we infer 'agenticity': the tendency to believe that the world is controlled by invisible intentional agents."

"There is now substantial evidence from cognitive neuroscience that humans readily find patterns and impart agency to them" He goes on. The article is in the June 2009 issue and you can also visit www.skeptic.com. Michael is also the author of the book "Why People Believe Weird Things". I'm going to have to read that one.

Peace
Liz