I have been silent long enough!

Considering Songs of my Youth and Considering Today

It has been years since I posted on this blog. I have other blogs and Facebook to express myself. However, my anger and angst over today's America has been channeled only into comments responding to other's remarks and on reading The Daily Kos newsletter and blog articles, and The Washington Post.

So maybe now I will find the time to add a few posts here. We will see. My thoughts are beginning to clarify into solid expressions.

Expression #1: VOTE!

Expression #2: Remember the song I grew up on while a military dependent attending base chapels.

• 
   Jesus Loves the 
• Little children.
• All the children
• Of the world.
• Red and yellow
• Black and white
• Jesus loves the
• Little children 
• Of the world.

This song was usually sung with the song below. You can hear it today on YouTube.

Below is the refrain as it goes through my head when I remember it. The YouTube version is a more accurate rendition. I was glad to find it today when I was researching credits for the song. 

• Jesus loves me
• This I know
• Cause the Bible Tells me so....
• Yes, Jesus loves me.
• Yes, Jesus loves me.
• The Bible tells me so.

From Wikipedia/Wikiwand: The song was written in 1859. Wikiwand tells the story behind the song beginning with the partial paragraph below. 

 

"Jesus Loves Me" is a Christian hymn written by Anna Bartlett Warner (1827–1915). The lyrics first appeared as a poem in the context of an 1860 novel called Say and Seal, written by her older sister Susan Warner (1819–1885), in which the words were spoken as a comforting poem to a dying child."..."The tune was added in 1862 by William Batchelder Bradbury (1816–1868). Along with his tune, Bradbury added his own chorus "Yes, Jesus loves me, Yes, Jesus Loves me..."

Jesus Loves the Little Children can be heard on YouTube. Even today I cannot listen to it without crying. Nor can I sing it without a wobble in my voice.

The music for Jesus Loves the Little Children, ironically, was composed by George Frederick Root for "Tramp Tramp Tamp," a song of the US Civil War. Over the marching song melody, C. Herbert Woolston (1856-1927)wrote the children's song lyrics. It is considered a Christian Child's Prayer song. There are other lyrics and alternate versions collected over the years since Woolston's original lyrics.

Expression #3: How can a society raised on these songs be so divisive today? However, I am reminded of the song "Onward Christian Soldiers" when I consider the background to the song "Jesus Loves Me." 
How can the same Christians sing "Jesus Loves the Little Children" and not seek justice for all no matter what the race or religion of the other?

Credits: Images are royalty from Bing and from Stockvault. The third image is (c)Valerie Coskrey, 2013, and represents a gate to a lovely future from a home full of love. It is the gate in my parent's backyard of one of the many yards of the many homes my parents lived in during their lifetime. These homes were filled with love, even during times of strife. Being children of a US Navy corpsman who retired my second year in college, we knew many backyards. This one is from Dad's retirement years and is of a home we all cherished.

My Response to Paul Ryan Remarks on Climate Change

greenhouse effect
© James Steidl - Fotolia.com #1248622

According to several articles online, Paul Ryan has admitted that the climate is changing. He doesn't see why we should do something to try to stop the warming. Admittedly, having a Republican admit that there is global warming is a step forward. But to claim that any and all attempts to control the warming is a --I assume he regards it as such--tax scam.  (MY words, not his)

In my view, he misses the crucial concern over global warming. Evolution will occur at increased rates due to the stress of climate change. This concept is anathema to the Creationists of the Conservatives, I know, but it is the fear of those who accept modern science as knowing how the world works.

By the way, MRSA is a prime example of evolution in action. Influenza, HIV and ebola are constantly evolving, but viruses are not living entities, just prime examples for modeling how evolution can occur in living species.

A cornfield near Waco, TX, years ago

Consider the idea that many plants and some animals will perish if the carbon dioxide levels change by even just 1-3 % points. Photosynthesis in corn, for example, shifts to favor an alternate pathway. Some plants cannot make the shift successfully. Expect huge evolutionary changes with increased warming, shifting of climate regions, and increased carbon dioxide.

The age of the dinosaurs demonstrates the speciation that occurs with these changes,
as do other epochs and eras. HOW WILL HUMANS CHANGE? The immediate results of the current warming shift will be economic, devastatingly so. But the long-term changes will be biological.

We are headed into a scary future for humankind. REMEMBER, past climate changes resulted in new species, extinctions, and a total change in the ecosystems. Yes, climate change has always occurred. Man's worry is what effect the current change will have on mankind and our culture. The earth as a biosphere will go on, but will we?

Allowing religious conservatives--fundamentalists--to control policy is frightening to me who believes in the correctness of views espoused and accepted by modern science. I really do fear a return to the Dark Ages where only prayer--and midwives and alchemists--could cure disease and only one leader had any say over how the masses lived.  Our entire culture is headed for a massive change where freedoms will by stymied and lives ruled by senseless corporate greed and religious control--where Big Brother is the church spy who tells on you and the punishment is excommunication or stoning.

Biblical Law looks just like Sharia Law, People. Ask the Inquisition or the Salem Witch Hunters. They were good Christian folk, too. So were every Christian nation that sincerely prayed for victory as they fought each other in countless battles and wars.

Only the true believers win? Ask that of each team in a football game when both sides sincerely pray for victory.

Get real!

Is the Pope more Powerful than the US Constitution in Deciding US Law?

SCOTUS, in the form of the 5 - man - majority Catholics, appear to be doing the will of their Pope.

Constitutional Memes ©Angel Simon - Fotolia.com

What does the view of the Pope have to do with deciding the US Constitution? The only question before the Supreme Court is the constitutionality of a US law.

The Robert's Court just gave employers the right to forbid birth control coverage in your employer's group insurance coverage. 

We are seeing the institutionalizing of Biblical Law. Can we continue to decry the harm of following the Fundamentalists of Sharia Law? Do we now take an eye for an eye, as the Bible says we do?

We are seeing the destruction of Freedom of Religion and the destruction of Rights of the Individual in this Court. I honestly fear that America as we were becoming, a just and free people, is going to be lost. We will soon fall as we lose the moral ground, becoming as superstitious and fundamentalist and controlling of others as the Taliban, with the corporations calling the shots.

Our Freedom, our Voting Rights, and our Democracy is at stake, but being whittled away under the Conservatives and the GOP moves to obey fundamentalism, the Kochs and the corporations over their pledge to uphold the US Constitution.

In the past, group coverage without birth control coverage was often more expensive. Will that be true today? Will these employers shove the added expense onto the employees by taking the policy difference out of the employees share of the payment?

Will these corporations now look to their investments to limit their stock options on the makers of birth control and condoms? Will they limit their investments in sweat shops? Will they take their religious convictions to the ultimate expression of actually doing morally responsible business? Or will they continue to cheat on taxes and such?

What has Obama Done for us over his First 3.5 Years?

Here is a blog post that lists the accomplishments of the past 3.5 years of the Obama Administration.
http://pleasecutthecrap.typepad.com/main/what-has-obama-done-since-january-20-2009.html

Doesn't look like a do-nothing presidency to me.

(Image of President Obama copied from http://northcountrydemocrat.blogspot.com/2010_04_01_archive.html as a lisense-free image.)

Obama a Loser?

Today while reading The Week on-line I came across a comment where the fellow claimed that Obama was a loser.  (There is a link below the box to the entire dialog.)

Tumblers, a flame © 2009

This is my reply to him.

Heavens, how can you call a sitting president a loser? He won that election, after all. And got some very major bills passed through a partially hostile congress. And he accomplished the primary publicly-stated goals Bush set for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq both. And he lowered the unemployment rate and reduced taxes for business and the middle class. And look at what he accomplished against the enormous odds set by the other party.

The major weakness that I have observed in the Obama years is that the press does not publish his accomplishments with the same fervor that they publish the criticisms against him, nor does it publish favorable opinions fair-handedly. The other major weakness is that the Dems have not explained their policies and the new laws in ways that the public will hear and understand. They have not consistently pointed out the facts so that people can read through the innuendos and out-right lies propagated by the other party and its media censorship.

The other major problem with publicizing Obama's successes is that many Americans have a religious fervor for accepting everything they hear on Fox News Network and refuse to listen to any reporting that does not agree with the likes of Glen Beck. When church members in the Bible Belt claim that what they hear on Fox is all they know or need to know in the same manner that they say they only read the Bible and do not require much education because God will provide all they need to know and whatever they need to live on-- they always let you know that to think, or say, otherwise would be a betrayal of their Faith--then you have to realize that churches are doing lots of politicking despite their tax-exempt status.

Check out the entire dialog here:
http://theweek.com/article/index/228291/5-reasons-the-clinton-biden-switcheroo-will-never-happen

How will Romney Defend the Nation?

I was watching Thom Hartmann yesterday on satellite TV. A lady called in with this question: If Mitt Romney and his 4 sons are conscientious objectors, how will he lead the US military as Commander in Chief?

 Taking Over © 2009 V. Coskrey

On the news it was reported that the Republicans in the house want to pass a resolution requiring the US to declare war on Iran as soon as that country becomes "nuclear-capable" even if the use of nuclear power is for peaceful purposes like generating electricity. How will the leading Republican candidate, a conscientious objector of past wars (Hartmann {May 16, 2000} reported that Romney had avoided service in the military by serving as a Mormon missionary to France) deal with a war begun by his party as soon as he enters office?

How will Republicans under Mitt Romney Create Jobs?

    How will Mitt Romney create jobs? By bolstering the corporations? By making business loans available? By increasing government civil service positions? By expanding the number of government subcontractors?

Below is a copy of am email from Stephanie of the Obama-Biden campaign.  It discusses past examples of business practices of Mitt Romney.

There is an email within the email. The original is posted in the bottom half of the boxed area. It is even more informative than the top half.

 (Hello)

Watch this video we put together featuring people affected by Mitt Romney during his time in the private sector, and help hold him accountable by passing it along.

[This is an ad by Democrats. There is much info here, especially in the timeline across the bottom of the add page. Ignore the first popup. The others are all about information gathered from the people involved in the assistance provided by Romney's company. ~Knee Jerk Reactions added this caption.]

It's important that you understand exactly what Romney did as a businessman, and whether the lessons and values he drew from that experience really do qualify him to be our president.

In a career of buying and selling companies, Romney's pattern was to reap quick profits for himself and his investors, but often at the expense of workers and communities. Sometimes it meant outsourcing jobs to places like China and Mexico. Other times, it would mean reducing wages and benefits.

At times, his firm would buy companies, load them with debt and pocket millions, even as the companies went bankrupt, costing workers their jobs, health care, and pensions.

In Romney's world, CEOs and wealthy investors prosper by any means they can get away with, even when that means companies fail and workers are left behind. Two sets of rules -- one for people like him, another for the rest of us.

It's our job to let people know the truth about Romney's record, and what it says about the economic vision and values he would bring to the presidency.

The real strength of the economy is a growing, thriving middle class, not simply a band of successful financial engineers, and Romney doesn't get that.

I sent the note below to the Truth Team, a group of grassroots supporters who've signed up to be on the front lines of doing just that.

So check out this video:

http://my.barackobama.com/Romney-Economics

And consider becoming a part of the Truth Team -- we'd love to have your help.

Thanks,

Stephanie


-----
More than 1.9 million people like you power this campaign. If you can, please donate today.


-----------------Original Message-----------------
From: Stephanie Cutter, BarackObama.com
Subject: Romney economics

Friend --

On the campaign trail, Mitt Romney points to his private sector experience as his chief qualification to be president.

So we took a look at that experience, and put together a new site, RomneyEconomics.com, on it. Take a look for yourself here.

Let me sum up how Romney economics works:

Romney and his partners bought companies across the United States, often loading them up with debt in the process.

Too often, they slashed pensions, benefits, and jobs, while paying themselves and their shareholders straight from the debt they'd accumulated.

Because of that debt, several of these businesses went bankrupt, leaving workers without jobs, without pensions, and without health care -- all while Romney and his partners walked away with millions.

Everyone understands that businesses rise and fall -- and sometimes fail -- and no one is challenging Romney's right to run his business as he saw fit or questioning private equity as a whole.

But when a handful of people make a fortune by putting thousands out of work and bankrupting once-healthy businesses, it's legitimate to question whether those are the values America needs in a president -- and whether those are the values that will create an economy built to last, with a strong, secure middle class.

On the campaign trail, Mitt Romney claims that what he and his partners did is the very best of what capitalism can be. He claims to know how to create jobs based on that experience, but even his former partners admitted their business was never about creating jobs -- it was about creating wealth for investors.

Just listen to the workers of GST Steel: Mitt Romney came in, ravaged it with debt, and it ended up filing for bankruptcy. 750 workers lost their jobs and health care, and Romney's managers left their pension fund $44 million short. The 113-year-old steel mill closed its doors, and Romney's company made a 150% profit on their initial investment.

As RomneyEconomics.com shows, stories like that happened time and time again. That approach, where a few people do very well no matter what the cost to others, is the last thing we need in a president.

Romney's economics would be a disaster for the middle class. We can't afford an economy where even when the company fails, the financial wizards walk away with millions, while the workers who have invested years growing the company are left holding the bag. That won't make our economy -- or our country -- stronger.

As part of the Truth Team, it's up to us to spread the truth behind Mitt Romney's business record. We don't need to spin it here, the facts speak for themselves.

So take a look around the site -- check out the year-by-year statistics and hear from the workers and managers affected by Mitt Romney and his business partners. Then share these stories far and wide: http://my.barackobama.com/Romney-Economics

There's too much at stake in this election not to.

Thanks,

Stephanie

Stephanie Cutter
Deputy Campaign Manager
Obama for America