No More Republican "Lite"

A cheese-head for President? Russ Feingold is looking good to me. He is a Senator from Wisconsin. He voted "no" on the Iraq War, "no" on the Patriot Act and is holding true to his beliefs. I really liked his approach and his philosophy as he was interviewed on ABC Sunday Morning.
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=1349549

He talked about the Democratic Party taking a stand and said democrats can no longer be "Republican Lite". They have to stand for something and be proud of it.

For more information on his views and his timetable proposal to pull out of Iraq visit his website: http://www.russfeingold.org/

This guy gives me HOPE!

Words of Wisdom

No, not the word of wisdom...but something better. Words from a grandmother on a fixed income who is struggling with the whole meaning of Christmas. Don't get me wrong, I am not against giving a gift to show how much you love and appreciate a loved one or a friend..but I do agree that there has to be a limit....any maybe we should all consider having a limit and sending some of the money we would usually spend going over the limit to someone in need....or better yet, just spend some quality time with our families instead of running around shopping looking for the perfect gift...Often, our attention and love is the perfect gift!

Christmas has been stolen from us
Utah Voices
Janice Cameron

Usually the Christmas season starts the day after Thanksgiving with huge come-ons in the stores. Last year, I even went with my family to Best Buy and stood in line to buy a DVD for just over $30. My grandsons camped out all night in the line to purchase all the things the family wanted. But this year, I decided Christmas has just gone too far. When the X-Box craze appeared at the first of the week, and people were camping out, I finally decided we U.S. citizens have gone crazy!
You see, I live in a retirement center on a fixed income. This is the first year I have had to face the fact that I can't go out and charge up the world with my cards. And I have always enjoyed giving gifts and doing things for others at Christmas. So when I looked at the Target advertisement a few weeks ago and noted the prices of the suggested gifts (ranging from $40 for video games to I-Pods that were far more than what I could pay for), I determined that I could not give at Christmas anymore. Sen. Orrin Hatch said recently that the elderly have more money to spend than ever before. I don't know where he gets that idea because he sure doesn't live like I do. And I live in a nice retirement home (not a nursing home), I have a nice dining room and drivers to take me to my doctor appointments and shopping.
There is nothing more in this world I want to do than buy some great gifts for my grandchildren. But I can no longer compete with the prices of items for those children today and, darn it, I love them just as much as the next grandma. What happened to kids lying out in the snow and moving their arms up and down to make snow angels? What happened to the families who chopped down their own Christmas tree and decorated it with whatever they had, including stringing popcorn. What happened to the sleds, skates, hot chocolate and people singing Christmas carols and baking cookies?
And I wonder what the low-income parents do to try and be Santa Claus to a generation of kids who always have something stuck in their ear while you are trying to have a meaningful conversation.
The true fact of Christmas this year is that there are a lot of lonely elderly people out there whose families have become so busy that they don't have time for us. They have season tickets to the local football teams; they fly to Hawaii (or some exotic place) for Christmas; they watch their children play in tournaments and run marathons, and are so busy that they miss an awful lot of life.
The fact is that there are many children who have no way of getting those expensive items. The fact is there are soldiers who put their life on the line for us every day to give us the freedom we experience. The fact is that 70,000 people were killed in Pakistan recently and winter is coming on for them, and they have no food. People in Africa are struggling with AIDS. And Honduras, Mexico and Guatemala just were decimated by storms.
There are the people without homes in the New Orleans area, and just last week the electricity was finally on in the Fort Lauderdale area. The Navajo people need stoves to keep them warm (they are one of the few Indians who do not have gambling casinos); Delta Air Lines is in bankruptcy; General Motors is laying off thousands of workers. The food banks are asking for help. The Humane Society needs food and warm bedding, and frankly, there are just a thousand ways everyone in this United States could spend their money this season. But instead, this nation chooses to stand in line to be the first to have the latest technology of today instead of what is really needed.
Even though it is depressing right now to face the Christmas season, all the needy and elderly may get through it. But how many could you have helped instead of buying that digital camera? --- Janice Cameron is a retired mother of two and grandmother of five. She lives in South Jordan.

Happy Turkey Day

I know it is late for this post...but I cannot help myself. I thought about this all day on Thanksgiving.

You Go!

Check out these articles about the conservative right trying to take over Utah....like they don't run all of our lives already????
My dad spoke out against this and I am a PROUD daughter!
You Go DAD!

Institute urges cities to map out family roles
http://sltrib.com/ci_3244212

and

North Salt Lake shrugs at family resolution
http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,635163445,00.html

Judgment

I was having a conversation with another mediator today about the whole debate over transformative mediation. What I came to was that those who are "great" mediators naturally create a space in which parties can transform. They do this by just being themselves and staying away from judgment. In the ACResolution Magazine, Fall 2005, Sharon Pickett from Bethesda, Maryland wrote "I remember that I do not know the people sitting with me or understand the life experiences that have shaped who they are. We are all flawed human beings doing our best in an imperfect world -- and that includes me." What a great way to view the world and those who we come into contact with. It must take a lot of energy to always feel like you are better than others, figuring out what is wrong about them and right about you. Sounds like too much work to me....I like being in charge of only myself..and sometimes my dog, never my cat, and I don't even consider my Wife.

News of the Day--My judgment of the day

I cannot believe that our Vice President is hosting a fundraiser to help pay for Tom DeLay's court case...What is the world coming to? Is there not enough to do as the Vice President of the US....this guy has time to promote this kind of behavior????

HOUSTON Nov 22, 2005 — A campaign fundraiser for embattled Rep. Tom DeLay postponed by Hurricane Rita in September is being rescheduled for Dec. 5 with Vice President Dick Cheney as the headliner.
"It points out that the party is behind (DeLay) and the (Bush) administration is supportive and wants to keep Congressman DeLay in office," Eric Thode, Republican chairman in DeLay's home county of Fort Bend, told the Houston Chronicle in a story published Tuesday.
The most expensive tickets for the event $4,200 includes a spot at a VIP reception and a photograph with the vice president.
"Congressman Tom DeLay has been an exceptional leader on Capitol Hill and Vice President Cheney looks forward to helping his re-election effort," said Lee Anne McBride, a Cheney spokeswoman in Washington.
DeLay was indicted earlier this year on campaign finance-related charges in Travis County, an action that forced him to step down at least temporarily as House majority leader.
Former Rep. Nick Lampson is seeking the Democrat nomination to run against DeLay next year.
Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Utah & Poverty

Did you know?

• More than 70 percent of workers do not earn enough to support a family with one working parent.
• About 30 percent of workers earn a wage that leaves them below the poverty level.
• About 70 percent of people with disabilities are unemployed.
• The poverty rate in Utah was 6.7% in 1999-2000. In 2003-04, the poverty rate was 9.5%.
• The average family size in Utah is 3.6 people.
• A "typical poor person" in Utah is Anglo and is a member of a two-parent, working family.
• The federal poverty guideline for a family of four people is $18,850 a year--or $1,571 a month.

From Utah Issues Center for Poverty Research & Action

I Begin

So, I now have a Blog....what does it mean. It means I have somewhere to write my thoughts, my rants, my raves. This Blog will have many threads....I am a lesbian living in Utah, I work in the conflict resolution field and I am a democrat...who is sick and tired of the Bush bullshit! I can't believe that we have this man as a president...what is wrong with us? Who voted for that idiot?
The one thing I like the most about working as a mediator...is that I have learned that I do not have the answers for anyone except myself ( and sometimes I struggle with those). So, who is Bush to decide, with his conservative buddies, what is best for anyone or everyone. A poem for BUSH.....

Listen

When I ask you to listen to me
and you start giving advice
you have not done what I asked.

When I ask you to listen to me
and you begin to tell me why I shouldn't feel that way
you are trampling on my feelings

When I ask you to listen to me
and you feel you have to do something to solve my problem,
you have failed me, strange as that may seem.

Listen! All I asked was that you listen.
not talk or do -- just hear me.
Advice is cheap; one dollar will get you both Dear Abby and
Billy Graham in the same newspaper.
And I can do for myself; I'm not helpless.
Maybe discouraged and faltering, but not helpless.

When you do something for me that I can and need
to do for myself, you contribute to my fear and weakness.

But, when you accept as a simple fact that I do feel what I feel,
no matter how irrational, then I can quit trying to convince
you and can get about the business of understanding what is
behind this irrational feeling. And when that is clear, the answers are obvious and I don't need advice. Irrational feelings make sense when we understand what's behind them.

Perhaps that's why prayer works, sometimes, for some people because
God is mute, and He does not give advice or try to fix things.
"They" just listen and let you work it out for yourself.

So, please listen and just hear me. And, if you want to talk, wait
a minute for your turn; and I'll listen to you.
Anonymous

It's about understanding...not knowing it all!