I wrote this for an autism convention in which I was a panelist:
My name is Alec Anderson. I am a proud parent of two children, a 16 year old young lady and a 14 year young gentleman.
Ten years ago my son was diagnosed with P.D.D. – N.O.S. (pervasive developmental disorder – not otherwise specified) a type of autism.
I remember vividly when our children's pediatrician said he felt that I had a mild autism. I had to ask hm to spell it because, as lots of people, I had never heard of it.
As a computer aficionado my first reaction was to go to the internet and read what autism was, what caused it and what were the symptoms.
When I started reading I was heartbroken, overwhelmed. The stories that were posted on the web were nothing short of devastating. My life, I felt, had come to a complete halt. It was like not only the bottom had fallen out but the roof had collapsed, all in one, and probably more feelings that I can express.
My life and my faith in my creator were put to test. For many years I wondered in the wilderness looking for answers, without finding them, probably because deep down I didn’t want to hear reality.
The pain, as a good friend of mine who lost his brother when he was a teenager said, will never go away. The anxiety of not knowing what will become of him as he and us get older probably will never disappear. Many times I’ve prayed for his healing. But on the other hand I’ve also asked myself how would Ian be if he was what we many times call normal, if autism was not part of our family. I don’t have the answer for that either.
I felt for a period of time that we were the only ones in this boat, to recognize later that we are not the only ones. To say that it has put our family through a tremendous amount of stress is putting it mildly. I once heard on CNN that 83% of couples in the United States that have kids with autism end up in divorce, and I can see why.
Most people with kids will say that when you first have them your life changes. These are changes on steroids.
When our son was diagnosed the ratio was 1 in 500, now it’s 1 in 200 or less than that.
If politicians would use our money wisely, not in conflicts or weapons, but in more research, we could probably have a better idea why the huge growth of this disability, provide solutions to families who live with one or more children with this illness.
This also reminds me when politicians have nothing better to do but to criticize our teachers, the most noble of callings. Teachers don’t do it for the money, the do it as a mission. Our son is a student at the Phoenix Center, great place that cares for him, cares for the family, cares for his future, where he not only learns but is also able to express and develop his talents, where he’s being prepared to face the workforce of the future.
For my wife and myself what stays with us is the knowledge as believers that there is a place for us in heaven.
But before I finish I did mention that we also have a daughter who is 16 years old. She is in her prime in every meaning of the word. But if this has been a tough journey for us, it has not been simple for my son’s sibling either, for many reasons, primarily because it is very difficult to explain a 6 year old child that her brother has a disability. She would many times say “I want to be handicapped too”. It is impossible to explain the magnitude of this to a child. The only thing that they see is that this other child gets all the attention, more than what they are getting, and it's not that we don't pay attention to her, it's just that it is human nature to lean to the one with greater and immediate needs.
Would I change the road we are on? NO
Because I have come to the realization that we all have a purpose on this earth, and eventually when we’ve come to the sunset of our lives we will see why.
I remember reading a story that said that a man had come to the end of his days and when he looked back he saw during most of his life two sets of footsteps, but during the tougher times he only saw one set, so he asked God why did you abandon me during the hardest times, and God replied that he had not abandoned him, but that he had carried him.
Esto lo escribi para una conferencia sobre autismo en el cual fui un panelista:
Mi nombre es Alec Anderson. Soy el orgulloso padre de dos hijos, una joven señorita de 16 años, y un hombrecito de 14.
Diez años atras mi hijo fue diagnosticado con Trastorno Generalizado del Desarrollo, un tipo de autism.
Recuerdo muy bien cuando el pediatra de mis hijos me dijo que le parecia que Ian tenia un tipo de autism liviano. Le tuve que pedir que me lo deletreara porque, al igual que mucha gente, nunca habia escuchado de eso.
Como un aficionado a la computacion que soy mi primera reaccion fue de ir al internet y leer que era autism, que lo provocaba y cuales eran los sintomas.
Cuando empece a leer se me fue el corazon a los pies. Las historias que estaban publicadas en el internet eran devastadoras. Senti que mi vida se habia detenido de golpe. Era como que el piso habia desaparecido y el techo se habia venido abajo, todo al mismo tiempo, e inclusive habia mas emociones que las que pueda explicar.
Mi vida y mi fe en mi creador se vieron puestas a prueba. Por muchos años me sentí como perdido en el desierto buscando contestaciones, sin poder encontrarlas, tal vez porque no queria aceptar la realidad.
El dolor, como me dijo un muy buen amigo que perdio un hermano cuando todavia era un adolescente, no se va a ir nunca. La ansiedad de no saber que sera de su vida cuando el y nosotros envejezamos no desaparecera nunca. Muchas veces he rezado por su cura, pero por otro lado tambien me he preguntado como seria Ian seria lo que tendemos a llamar normal, si autism no fuese parte de nuestra familia, y no tengo una contestacion a eso.
Por un tiempo senti que a nadie mas le pasaba esto, pero despues descubri de que no eramos los unicos. Decir que esto ha creado un tremendo stress a nuestra familia, seria bondadoso. Una vez escuche en CNN que el 83% de las parejas en EEUU con hijos con autismo terminan en divorcio, y veo el porque.
Tu vida cambia drasticamente.
Mucha gente con chicos dira que cuando uno los tiene la vida cambia. Estos son cambios con esteroides.
Cuando nuestro hijo fue diagnosticado el porcentaje era de 1 en 500, ahora es de 1 en 200 o tal vez menos que eso.
Si nuestros politicos utilizaran nuestro dinero conscientemente, no en conflictos ni armas, sino en mas investigacion, tal vez podriamos tener una major idea el porque la gran explosion de esta discapacidad, y dando soluciones a las familias que viven con una o mas criaturas con esta enfermedad.
Esto tambien me hace acordar cuando los politicos no tienen nada mejor que criticar a nuestros maestros, la mas noble profesion. Los maestros no lo hacen por el dinero sino como un llamado. Nuestro hijo es un estudiante en el Phoenix Center, un gran lugar que atiende a sus necesidades, atiende a las necesidades de nuestra familia, y que esta interesado en su futuro, donde no solo aprende sino donde le es posible expresar y desarrolar sus talentos, donde es preparado para formar parte de la clase trabajadora en el futuro.
Para mi señora y para mi lo que nos queda es saber como creyentes que hay para nosotros un lugar en el cielo.
Pero antes de terminar mencioné que también tenemos una hija de 16 años. Ella esta en su flor en todo sentido de la palabra. Pero si esto ha sido un camino dificil para nosotros, no ha sido tampoco facil para la hermana de mi hijo, hay muchos motivos, pero primordialmente porque es muy dificil de explicarle a una criatura de 6 años que el hermano tiene una discapacidad. Ella muchas veces decia que “Que queria ser discapacitada tambien”. Es muy dificil de explicarle la magnitud de todo esto a una criatura, lo unico que pueden ver es que el otro recibe toda la atencion, mas de lo que reciben ellos, y no es que uno no le prestase atencion a ella sino que uno naturalmente tiende a inclinarse hacia el mas necesitado.
Me gustaria cambiar el camino en el que andamos? NO
He llegado a la conclusion de que todos tenemos un proposito en esta tierra, y eventualmente cuando lleguemos al atardecer de nuestras vidas veremos el porque.
Recuerdo una historia que decia que un hombre llega al fin de su vida y cuando mira para atras ve durante la gran mayoria de su vida dos series de pisadas, excepto en los momentos mas dificiles donde ve solamente un par de pisadas, entonces le pregunta a Dios porque me abandonaste durante los momentos dificiles, y Dios le contesta que no lo habia abandonado, sino que lo habia cargado.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Surrender / Entrega
Most people who quit smoking become nightmares to those who still smoke, and that includes myself.
Today I will talk about something that by the same token with smoking and quitting, hopefully will help somebody else, like it did with me.
When my son was diagnosed with autism I spent a long time going in circles, resentful, hurt, and primarily disappointed with God. I felt that after all his promises he had abandoned me.
It took me 7 years of banging my head against the wall to come to the realization, thanks to the words of two good friends whom I value their opinions, that I could not go on the way I was.
One of them in a conversation over a cup of coffee, and of all the things I had to say, he turned around and said: “You said that you hold a grudge against God, and when we hold against a grudge against somebody the right thing to do is settle it with the person, and then as God forgave us, we should forgive.”
In this case it meant forgiving God. He had forgiven me first, so obviously there was no question what the right thing to do was.
The second person, a friend, former missionary, and, as I call him, my adoptive father, and I call him that because my parents live 5,000 miles away and it made it easier at the time to talk about things that were on my mind. He said: “The weight that you are carrying on your shoulders it too much to bear for one person. You need to ask God to help you carry that weight, and as Christians, we believe that Jesus Christ is the one that can do that for us. And this one meant surrendering.
For 7 years I had been trying to do it my way, wrestling not with God, because he is the almighty, and there is no way of winning, or beating him, I was wrestling with myself, like a child, thinking that I could have it my way.
And when that day came it was like a weight had been lifted off of my shoulders. The wrestling was over. I had been stuck for seven years. My attitude, my perspective, had changed. I accepted that God was at the helm. Now I could go on with my life, and looking at my son not like a burden, like a talisman, but as a blessing, an instrument of God, which we all are, and a way for God to communicate with me, to teach me.
Again the whole key is SURRENDER. There is a hymn that as Christians we sing that says: I surrender all. You can understand that as giving your possessions. I thank it's great, like St. Francis did, give all your belongings away. For me they are just material goods. I view it as surrendering our most precious possession, us, to his will, whatever that may be, wherever it may take me, because at the end of the day God is in command.
Now somebody can come and say easier said than done. I never said that it was easy for me. It took me seven long years of pain, struggle and hardship to realize that I was going nowhere. I think that that shows that it was not easy for me. But it is the only way. Sooner or later we come to that realization.
Once a week I meet with a person who God put in my path to teach me, to look at myself in the mirror through this person. And many times I’ve felt like giving up, and now I see that God has used me to his benefit as an instrument to help this person. We talk about life, Jesus, God, work, and many more things. Recently he’s been more focused on trying to develop a relationship with his creator. And it gives me great joy to see that, because I feel God’s power at work. For those of us who are Christians the Lord’s Prayer says it very clearly: THY WILL BE DONE, ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN. Jesus taught us that to pray to the Father we have in heaven, but it clearly states that his will will be done here as well. God sent his son to die on the cross for all of us, Jews and Gentiles, and the only thing that he wants in return is our total surrender, to surrender to his will. By doing that we have the weight lifted off our shoulders, of all the burdens that may afflict us, health, finances, love, loneliness, etc., and by then we can then become instruments for his glory.
Many times when we have a relative or a friend who is need, in poor health, who could pass away, we pray for their health. We also need to pray for God to give us his comfort, the peace of mind, like he gave Jesus, to accept his will, regardless what that may be, and to know that in the midst of the storm we are not alone, that he is always with us, until the ends of the ages.
Normalmente siempre escribo en ingles, salvo casos excepcionales, o por pedido, pero me parecio que este tema nos afecta a todos. Reconozco que me he vuelto un gringo, no tanto al hablar pero si para escribir.
Lo que sigue es la “adaptacion” de lo que escribi en ingles.
La mayoria de la gente que deja de fumar se vuelven una pesadilla para los que todavia fuman, y en eso me incluyo.
Cuando mi hijo fue diagnosticado con autismo me pase un tiempo largo dando vuelta en circulos, resentido, dolido, y primoridialmente decepcionado con Dios. Senti que despues de todas sus promesas me habia abandonado.
Me llevo siete años de golpearme la cabeza contra las paredes hasta que finalmente llegue a la conlusion, la realizacion, gracias a las palabras de dos buenos amigos, a los cuales les valoro la opinion, que no podia seguir de manera en que estaba.
Uno me dijo durante una charla, café de por medio, y entre todas las cosas que le dije, el agarro y me dijo: “Dijiste que tenias una bronco con Dios, y cuando uno tiene una bronco con alguien lo que corresponde es que lo hables con esa persona, y despues, de la misma que Dios nos perdono a nosotros, debemos perdonar.”
En este caso significaba perdonar a Dios. El me habia perdonado a mi primero, asi que era obvio lo que debia hacer.
La segunda persona, un amigo, ex-misionero, y como lo llamo yo, mi padre adoptado, y lo llamo asi porque mis padres viven a 8.000 kilometros de aca, y se me ha hecho facil en muchas ocasiones de hablar cosas que tenia dando vuelva en la cabeza.. El me dijo: “Estas tratando de cargar mucho peso en los hombros para una sola persona. Tenes que pedirle a Dios que te ayude a cargar ese peso, y como Cristianos, tenemos la fe de que Cristo es el que lo puede hacer por nosotros. I esto significaba entrega.
Por siete años habia tratado de hacer las cosas a mi manera, luchando no con Dios,porque es todo poderoso, y no hay forma de ganar or vencer, sino conmigo mismo, como una criatura, que queria tener su capricho.
Y cuando llego ese dia era como un peso que se habia levantado de mis hombros. La lucha habia terminado. Habia estado estancado por siete años. Mi actitud, my perspectiva, habia cambiado. Acepte que Dios estaba en el timonel. Ahora podia seguir con mi vida, y mirar a mi hijo no ya como un carga, como un talisman, sino como una bendicion, un instrumento de Dios, como somos todos, y una manera de Dios de comunicarse conmigo, de enseñarme.
Al final del dia la palabra es ENTREGA. En ingles hay un himno que Cristianos cantamos que dice: Yo entrego todo. Uno puede entender eso como dando todos sus posesiones. San Francisco de Asis hizo eso, y me parecio maravilloso. Para mi esas son cosas materiales. Yo lo veo como entregando nuestra mas preciada posesion, nosotros, a su voluntad, cualquiera ella fuese, cualquier lugar que nos llevase, porque al final del dia Dios esta al comando.
Ahora alguien puede venir y decir eso es mas facil decirle que hacerlo. Nunca dije que fuese facil. Me llevo siete largos años de dolor, lucha y dificultad para darme cuenta que no iba a ningun lado. Me parece que eso prueba que no fue facil para mi. Pero tarde o temprano llegamos a esa conclusion.
Una vez por semana me junto con una persona que Dios puso en mi camino para enseñarme, para que me mire en el espejo por medio de esta persona. Muchas veces pense en abandonar, y ahora veo que Dios me ha utlizado para su beneficio como un medio para ayudar a esta persona. Hablamos de la vida, de Dios, de Jesus, y de muchas cosas mas. Ultimamente ha estado mas interesado en entablar una relacion con su creador. Me gran alegria poder ver eso, dado que veo el poder de Dios trabajando. Para todos los que somos Cristianos El Padre Nuestro nos dice: HAGASE TU VOLUNTAD EN LA TIERRA COMO EN EL CIELO. Jesus nos enseño a orar al padre que tenemos en los cielos, pero claramente dice que se haga la voluntad aca tambien. Dios envio a su hijo a morir en la cruz por nosotros, Judios y Gentiles, y una de las cosas que nos pide en devolucion es nuestra entrega absoluta, de entregarnos a su voluntad. Al hacerlo sentimos el peso que tenemos sobre nuestros hombros removido, de todas las cargas que nos puedan aflijir, salud, finanzas, amor, soledad, etc., y al hacerlo podemos convertirnos en instrumentos para su gloria.
Muchas veces cuando tenemos un familiar o un amigo que esta en necesidad, tal vez en mala salud, que tal vez podia morir, oramos por su salud. Lo que tambien debemos hacer es orar a Dios por su espiritu, por la paz interior, como le dio a Jesus, de aceptar su voluntad, no importa cual fuere, y de saber que en el medio de la tormenta no estamos solos, que el nos acompaña, hasta el fin de mundo.
Today I will talk about something that by the same token with smoking and quitting, hopefully will help somebody else, like it did with me.
When my son was diagnosed with autism I spent a long time going in circles, resentful, hurt, and primarily disappointed with God. I felt that after all his promises he had abandoned me.
It took me 7 years of banging my head against the wall to come to the realization, thanks to the words of two good friends whom I value their opinions, that I could not go on the way I was.
One of them in a conversation over a cup of coffee, and of all the things I had to say, he turned around and said: “You said that you hold a grudge against God, and when we hold against a grudge against somebody the right thing to do is settle it with the person, and then as God forgave us, we should forgive.”
In this case it meant forgiving God. He had forgiven me first, so obviously there was no question what the right thing to do was.
The second person, a friend, former missionary, and, as I call him, my adoptive father, and I call him that because my parents live 5,000 miles away and it made it easier at the time to talk about things that were on my mind. He said: “The weight that you are carrying on your shoulders it too much to bear for one person. You need to ask God to help you carry that weight, and as Christians, we believe that Jesus Christ is the one that can do that for us. And this one meant surrendering.
For 7 years I had been trying to do it my way, wrestling not with God, because he is the almighty, and there is no way of winning, or beating him, I was wrestling with myself, like a child, thinking that I could have it my way.
And when that day came it was like a weight had been lifted off of my shoulders. The wrestling was over. I had been stuck for seven years. My attitude, my perspective, had changed. I accepted that God was at the helm. Now I could go on with my life, and looking at my son not like a burden, like a talisman, but as a blessing, an instrument of God, which we all are, and a way for God to communicate with me, to teach me.
Again the whole key is SURRENDER. There is a hymn that as Christians we sing that says: I surrender all. You can understand that as giving your possessions. I thank it's great, like St. Francis did, give all your belongings away. For me they are just material goods. I view it as surrendering our most precious possession, us, to his will, whatever that may be, wherever it may take me, because at the end of the day God is in command.
Now somebody can come and say easier said than done. I never said that it was easy for me. It took me seven long years of pain, struggle and hardship to realize that I was going nowhere. I think that that shows that it was not easy for me. But it is the only way. Sooner or later we come to that realization.
Once a week I meet with a person who God put in my path to teach me, to look at myself in the mirror through this person. And many times I’ve felt like giving up, and now I see that God has used me to his benefit as an instrument to help this person. We talk about life, Jesus, God, work, and many more things. Recently he’s been more focused on trying to develop a relationship with his creator. And it gives me great joy to see that, because I feel God’s power at work. For those of us who are Christians the Lord’s Prayer says it very clearly: THY WILL BE DONE, ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN. Jesus taught us that to pray to the Father we have in heaven, but it clearly states that his will will be done here as well. God sent his son to die on the cross for all of us, Jews and Gentiles, and the only thing that he wants in return is our total surrender, to surrender to his will. By doing that we have the weight lifted off our shoulders, of all the burdens that may afflict us, health, finances, love, loneliness, etc., and by then we can then become instruments for his glory.
Many times when we have a relative or a friend who is need, in poor health, who could pass away, we pray for their health. We also need to pray for God to give us his comfort, the peace of mind, like he gave Jesus, to accept his will, regardless what that may be, and to know that in the midst of the storm we are not alone, that he is always with us, until the ends of the ages.
Normalmente siempre escribo en ingles, salvo casos excepcionales, o por pedido, pero me parecio que este tema nos afecta a todos. Reconozco que me he vuelto un gringo, no tanto al hablar pero si para escribir.
Lo que sigue es la “adaptacion” de lo que escribi en ingles.
La mayoria de la gente que deja de fumar se vuelven una pesadilla para los que todavia fuman, y en eso me incluyo.
Cuando mi hijo fue diagnosticado con autismo me pase un tiempo largo dando vuelta en circulos, resentido, dolido, y primoridialmente decepcionado con Dios. Senti que despues de todas sus promesas me habia abandonado.
Me llevo siete años de golpearme la cabeza contra las paredes hasta que finalmente llegue a la conlusion, la realizacion, gracias a las palabras de dos buenos amigos, a los cuales les valoro la opinion, que no podia seguir de manera en que estaba.
Uno me dijo durante una charla, café de por medio, y entre todas las cosas que le dije, el agarro y me dijo: “Dijiste que tenias una bronco con Dios, y cuando uno tiene una bronco con alguien lo que corresponde es que lo hables con esa persona, y despues, de la misma que Dios nos perdono a nosotros, debemos perdonar.”
En este caso significaba perdonar a Dios. El me habia perdonado a mi primero, asi que era obvio lo que debia hacer.
La segunda persona, un amigo, ex-misionero, y como lo llamo yo, mi padre adoptado, y lo llamo asi porque mis padres viven a 8.000 kilometros de aca, y se me ha hecho facil en muchas ocasiones de hablar cosas que tenia dando vuelva en la cabeza.. El me dijo: “Estas tratando de cargar mucho peso en los hombros para una sola persona. Tenes que pedirle a Dios que te ayude a cargar ese peso, y como Cristianos, tenemos la fe de que Cristo es el que lo puede hacer por nosotros. I esto significaba entrega.
Por siete años habia tratado de hacer las cosas a mi manera, luchando no con Dios,porque es todo poderoso, y no hay forma de ganar or vencer, sino conmigo mismo, como una criatura, que queria tener su capricho.
Y cuando llego ese dia era como un peso que se habia levantado de mis hombros. La lucha habia terminado. Habia estado estancado por siete años. Mi actitud, my perspectiva, habia cambiado. Acepte que Dios estaba en el timonel. Ahora podia seguir con mi vida, y mirar a mi hijo no ya como un carga, como un talisman, sino como una bendicion, un instrumento de Dios, como somos todos, y una manera de Dios de comunicarse conmigo, de enseñarme.
Al final del dia la palabra es ENTREGA. En ingles hay un himno que Cristianos cantamos que dice: Yo entrego todo. Uno puede entender eso como dando todos sus posesiones. San Francisco de Asis hizo eso, y me parecio maravilloso. Para mi esas son cosas materiales. Yo lo veo como entregando nuestra mas preciada posesion, nosotros, a su voluntad, cualquiera ella fuese, cualquier lugar que nos llevase, porque al final del dia Dios esta al comando.
Ahora alguien puede venir y decir eso es mas facil decirle que hacerlo. Nunca dije que fuese facil. Me llevo siete largos años de dolor, lucha y dificultad para darme cuenta que no iba a ningun lado. Me parece que eso prueba que no fue facil para mi. Pero tarde o temprano llegamos a esa conclusion.
Una vez por semana me junto con una persona que Dios puso en mi camino para enseñarme, para que me mire en el espejo por medio de esta persona. Muchas veces pense en abandonar, y ahora veo que Dios me ha utlizado para su beneficio como un medio para ayudar a esta persona. Hablamos de la vida, de Dios, de Jesus, y de muchas cosas mas. Ultimamente ha estado mas interesado en entablar una relacion con su creador. Me gran alegria poder ver eso, dado que veo el poder de Dios trabajando. Para todos los que somos Cristianos El Padre Nuestro nos dice: HAGASE TU VOLUNTAD EN LA TIERRA COMO EN EL CIELO. Jesus nos enseño a orar al padre que tenemos en los cielos, pero claramente dice que se haga la voluntad aca tambien. Dios envio a su hijo a morir en la cruz por nosotros, Judios y Gentiles, y una de las cosas que nos pide en devolucion es nuestra entrega absoluta, de entregarnos a su voluntad. Al hacerlo sentimos el peso que tenemos sobre nuestros hombros removido, de todas las cargas que nos puedan aflijir, salud, finanzas, amor, soledad, etc., y al hacerlo podemos convertirnos en instrumentos para su gloria.
Muchas veces cuando tenemos un familiar o un amigo que esta en necesidad, tal vez en mala salud, que tal vez podia morir, oramos por su salud. Lo que tambien debemos hacer es orar a Dios por su espiritu, por la paz interior, como le dio a Jesus, de aceptar su voluntad, no importa cual fuere, y de saber que en el medio de la tormenta no estamos solos, que el nos acompaña, hasta el fin de mundo.
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Romney talks about appeasement
Romney, in his latest speech said that Obama has pursued a policy of appeasement that betrays a lack of faith in America.
"Obama doesn't understand America," Romney said. "This president appears more generous to our enemies than he is to our friends. Such is the natural tendency of someone who is unsure of America's strength – or of America's rightful place in the world."
This sounds like a speech of a desperate person who sees his “guaranteed” candidacy to the Republican Party for president slipping away.
I guess we should remind Mr. Romney that it was this president who got rid of Osama Bin Laden, not Bush, that it was this president who got rid of Kadafi, not Bush, that even though the Palestinians (whom I will talk about in another blog) tried in the United Nations to get statehood it was this president who blocked it, and had the British and the French rally behind the United States in this measure.
The word appeasement is in reference to what Mr. Chamberlain, former prime minister of the United Kingdom, had towards Nazi Germany in the 30s, when he asked the president of Czechoslovakia to give up any region that had a majority of Germans to avoid war. We know what ended up happening.
He says that he will stop Iran from getting or building nuclear weapons. He says that if need be he will attack Iran. I guess he doesn’t know that we are still involved in two conflicts at a very high cost in terms of life and money, thanks to the previous administration.
If we base ourselves on Romney’s backbone, and how he stands and defends each of his positions we know how that will end as well. He is the king of flip-flops. If you look in the Webster Dictionary for the meaning of the expression “flip-flop” it says Romney.
Romney should be ashamed of himself for using the word appeasement and trying to scare Jewish-Americans.
"Obama doesn't understand America," Romney said. "This president appears more generous to our enemies than he is to our friends. Such is the natural tendency of someone who is unsure of America's strength – or of America's rightful place in the world."
This sounds like a speech of a desperate person who sees his “guaranteed” candidacy to the Republican Party for president slipping away.
I guess we should remind Mr. Romney that it was this president who got rid of Osama Bin Laden, not Bush, that it was this president who got rid of Kadafi, not Bush, that even though the Palestinians (whom I will talk about in another blog) tried in the United Nations to get statehood it was this president who blocked it, and had the British and the French rally behind the United States in this measure.
The word appeasement is in reference to what Mr. Chamberlain, former prime minister of the United Kingdom, had towards Nazi Germany in the 30s, when he asked the president of Czechoslovakia to give up any region that had a majority of Germans to avoid war. We know what ended up happening.
He says that he will stop Iran from getting or building nuclear weapons. He says that if need be he will attack Iran. I guess he doesn’t know that we are still involved in two conflicts at a very high cost in terms of life and money, thanks to the previous administration.
If we base ourselves on Romney’s backbone, and how he stands and defends each of his positions we know how that will end as well. He is the king of flip-flops. If you look in the Webster Dictionary for the meaning of the expression “flip-flop” it says Romney.
Romney should be ashamed of himself for using the word appeasement and trying to scare Jewish-Americans.
Another useless bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives
Yesterday the U.S. House of Representatives passed new legislation.
One would assume that they dealt with the extension of the payroll tax holiday, or maybe that they passed a jobs bill that would put Americans to work.
Unfortunately that would be wishful thinking.
They passed another bill that would cut the powers of the Executive branch, and its supposed group of bureaucrats who pass new regulations.
This has been possibly the most do-nothing Congress in history.
They have worked arguably the least amount of days in the history of country, and have passed bills in the House of Representatives that they know perfectly will never make it to the floor of the Senate. And the reason that they will never see the day of light in the Senate is because they do nothing for the millions of unemployed in the US.
This bill would actually give the party who only runs one chamber of the U.S. Congress the power to veto regulations that supposedly would stop business from creating jobs.
I should clarify that the actual do-nothing is the House of Representatives. These are the same members who wanted to push the country into default and who ended up causing the lowering of the credit of the country. They are a group of extremists who want to see the safety net of this country dismantled.
This same group will hurt millions of Americans as of January 1st of 2012 because they don’t want to touch the pockets of the ultra wealthy. Almost 70% of Americans say that they believe that the wealthiest Americans should pay higher taxes.
This people are a disgrace to this country.
And when last week they saw that the unemployment had gone down from 9% to 8.6% they went berserk. The unemployment has gone because of the stimulus that was put into place in 2009, and now we are starting to see the effect of it, with people spending more. Housing saw in increase of over 10%.
These are all bad news for people like Mitch McConell, U.S. Senate minority leader, and who said almost at the beginning of the current administration that his main goal is to defeat Obama at the next. Republicans are more concerned in blocking, stopping, and potentially damaging the country as long as they can defeat the current president in the next election in 2012. That is truly pathetic. These representatives should start representing the will of the people, and not their own agenda, they should start governing, not passing useless bills that do absolutely nothing for the country. The U.S. is in a financial bind, with high unemployment, high deficits, and a bleak future, and these people are only worried in bringing down the current administration at whatever cost.
Let us not forget that many of the same people spent precious time over a decade ago impeaching a president for infidelity, while many of them where being unfaithful during the process.
One would assume that they dealt with the extension of the payroll tax holiday, or maybe that they passed a jobs bill that would put Americans to work.
Unfortunately that would be wishful thinking.
They passed another bill that would cut the powers of the Executive branch, and its supposed group of bureaucrats who pass new regulations.
This has been possibly the most do-nothing Congress in history.
They have worked arguably the least amount of days in the history of country, and have passed bills in the House of Representatives that they know perfectly will never make it to the floor of the Senate. And the reason that they will never see the day of light in the Senate is because they do nothing for the millions of unemployed in the US.
This bill would actually give the party who only runs one chamber of the U.S. Congress the power to veto regulations that supposedly would stop business from creating jobs.
I should clarify that the actual do-nothing is the House of Representatives. These are the same members who wanted to push the country into default and who ended up causing the lowering of the credit of the country. They are a group of extremists who want to see the safety net of this country dismantled.
This same group will hurt millions of Americans as of January 1st of 2012 because they don’t want to touch the pockets of the ultra wealthy. Almost 70% of Americans say that they believe that the wealthiest Americans should pay higher taxes.
This people are a disgrace to this country.
And when last week they saw that the unemployment had gone down from 9% to 8.6% they went berserk. The unemployment has gone because of the stimulus that was put into place in 2009, and now we are starting to see the effect of it, with people spending more. Housing saw in increase of over 10%.
These are all bad news for people like Mitch McConell, U.S. Senate minority leader, and who said almost at the beginning of the current administration that his main goal is to defeat Obama at the next. Republicans are more concerned in blocking, stopping, and potentially damaging the country as long as they can defeat the current president in the next election in 2012. That is truly pathetic. These representatives should start representing the will of the people, and not their own agenda, they should start governing, not passing useless bills that do absolutely nothing for the country. The U.S. is in a financial bind, with high unemployment, high deficits, and a bleak future, and these people are only worried in bringing down the current administration at whatever cost.
Let us not forget that many of the same people spent precious time over a decade ago impeaching a president for infidelity, while many of them where being unfaithful during the process.
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
The Buffoons at the debate
Last night we saw a new debate of the Republican Party. With few exceptions they were a bunch of buffoons. When I say that I mean literally. Let us look at the meaning of the word buffoon:
1. a person who amuses others by tricks, jokes, odd gestures and postures, etc.
2. a person given to coarse or undignified joking.
That fits perfect the candidates for the Republican Party. They talk about invading or attacking countries around the world, to keep on increasing the defense budget, crying foul at the fact that the Super Committee failed in its negotiation and thus 1.3 trillion in cuts will start as of January of 2013, half of it coming from defense, the Republican Party’s favorite cow.
Now let us look at the Super Committee, it was a concept of Congress for their unwillingness to negotiate and reduce the budget by over 4 trillion in the next 10 years, and the only reason the Super Committee failed is because Republicans are so obsessed with protecting the income and taxes of the top 1% of income earners that they will allow the country to go to hell in a hand basket. 67 % of the U.S. population believe that the wealthy should pay higher taxes.
Now going back to the debate, it is really worrisome to watch these comedians and think that they may be a possibility for one to become the next president.
The only one with some senses is one that will not win the nomination, Governor Huntsman. He says that the only way of maintaining a large military is based on our financial picture. We are on the brink of bankruptcy, and the main reason is because we exported all the technologies and manufacturing jobs overseas, based on lack of incentives in the tax code passed by Ronald Reagan in the 80s, reduction of taxes for the wealthy, passed by Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush, who have only hurt the country, by eliminating money that was being invested in education and research.
The U.S.A. is no longer the number country. Unless we accept that for a fact we will not deal with the issues we have as a country. We are like the alcoholic or drug addict who says that he controls the drink and drugs he or she consumes. This is a joke.
These candidates talk about privatizing the TSA (Transport Security Administration), not that I am a big fan of them, but the last time that we had private security at the airport, that was making five or 6 dollars an hour was on 09/11/01. Is that what we want to go back to? They want whoever replaces the TSA to do racial profiling. That is another way of discrimination.
These candidates are so out of sync with the majority of the country, just like the rest of the Republican Party, that they will say and do anything to please the right fringe of the country.
The next election unfortunately will not be a choice of the best candidate but a referendum on Obama’s performance, and that is what so worrisome to consider that one of these ignorant, multi-position, fanatic group ofjokerscould be the next commander in chief.
1. a person who amuses others by tricks, jokes, odd gestures and postures, etc.
2. a person given to coarse or undignified joking.
That fits perfect the candidates for the Republican Party. They talk about invading or attacking countries around the world, to keep on increasing the defense budget, crying foul at the fact that the Super Committee failed in its negotiation and thus 1.3 trillion in cuts will start as of January of 2013, half of it coming from defense, the Republican Party’s favorite cow.
Now let us look at the Super Committee, it was a concept of Congress for their unwillingness to negotiate and reduce the budget by over 4 trillion in the next 10 years, and the only reason the Super Committee failed is because Republicans are so obsessed with protecting the income and taxes of the top 1% of income earners that they will allow the country to go to hell in a hand basket. 67 % of the U.S. population believe that the wealthy should pay higher taxes.
Now going back to the debate, it is really worrisome to watch these comedians and think that they may be a possibility for one to become the next president.
The only one with some senses is one that will not win the nomination, Governor Huntsman. He says that the only way of maintaining a large military is based on our financial picture. We are on the brink of bankruptcy, and the main reason is because we exported all the technologies and manufacturing jobs overseas, based on lack of incentives in the tax code passed by Ronald Reagan in the 80s, reduction of taxes for the wealthy, passed by Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush, who have only hurt the country, by eliminating money that was being invested in education and research.
The U.S.A. is no longer the number country. Unless we accept that for a fact we will not deal with the issues we have as a country. We are like the alcoholic or drug addict who says that he controls the drink and drugs he or she consumes. This is a joke.
These candidates talk about privatizing the TSA (Transport Security Administration), not that I am a big fan of them, but the last time that we had private security at the airport, that was making five or 6 dollars an hour was on 09/11/01. Is that what we want to go back to? They want whoever replaces the TSA to do racial profiling. That is another way of discrimination.
These candidates are so out of sync with the majority of the country, just like the rest of the Republican Party, that they will say and do anything to please the right fringe of the country.
The next election unfortunately will not be a choice of the best candidate but a referendum on Obama’s performance, and that is what so worrisome to consider that one of these ignorant, multi-position, fanatic group ofjokerscould be the next commander in chief.
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Occupy Wall Street
For weeks I have reluctant to comment about the “99%” or Occupy Wall Street movement. The main reason of that is because I did not want to sound that I was jumping on the bandwagon. I have supported this ideology because I have said time and time over that the right thing to do as a nation is tax the people who have the money, just we did until 1981.
Recently a chart has been shown about the income disparity between the 1% of income earners or like the Republican Party calls “Job Creators”. What a crock. They may be creating jobs but not in this country, maybe in China, Mexico or other country that has no regulations against pollution or child labor exploitation, like many countries out there.
Isn’t it just a coincidence that the disparity starting growing since 1981, this is in my book the beginning of running this country into ground, and it starts with Ronald Reagan and his policy of government destruction, except for the wasteful Department of Defense, and the reform of taxation favoring the wealthiest at the expense of the rest of the country.
Now let’s look at what O.W.S. (Occupy Wall Street) stand for compared to the Tea Party. The OWS believes that Wall Street and the wealthy should start paying their fair share of taxes, not what they are paying now, they believe in a function of government, by loaning or pardoning loans to students, fairness in society. They represent different walks of life, different backgrounds, different income levels, different age levels. This movement has spread across the country to many cities including L.A., Denver, Boston, Chicago, Oakland, Kansas City. They were small business owners, students, retired people. There were no guns at any of the Occupy rallies across the country. They were funded by donations by people who supported the people who were camping in these cities. The OWS say they are unhappy with both parties because both of them have sold themselves to Corporate America.
Now let us look at the Tea Party. They cannot say that they represent the vast majority of the population as they only represent the fringe of the Republican Party. They are in their vast majority white people. That in itself tells me that there are not representative of the country. The Tea Party was funded by groups such as Americans for Prosperity who is funded by the Koch Brothers, the oil barons of the country, and by Karl Rove’s American Crossroads that is funded by 3 billionaires. They showed up at events with hand and machine guns, because they said that the 2nd Amendment protected them.
This group believes that the wealthy should pay less in taxes, even if it means bankrupting the nation, and that we should “flatten” the tax code, so that the 46% who don’t pay federal income tax, because their income is not high enough start paying more, that only the few have options with education, that we should spend limitless amounts of money for the Department of Defense, that we should cut benefits for seniors and the poor by cutting Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.
The Republican Party and its spokesperson Fox News have started name calling the people who have been demonstrating now for two months, by calling them bums, drug addicts, criminals, while there is no proof of any of this. This shows a total lack of sensitivity for what the middle class and poor are going through as the OWS is Middle America. Those same republicans we saying in 2010 that America was taking back the country from the socialist measures of Obama. I guess that the 99% does not suit the needs of the Republican Party and its radical agenda.
The OWS has its work cut out for itself as rough days lay ahead because as we have seen lately cities across the country are using brutal force by the police to disband them. Many of these mayors have received campaign funds from Corporate America, so they cannot allow the middle class and the poor to rebel against the status quo.
Pundits such as Bill O’Reilly are saying that the Occupy Wall Street group is finished. I disagree with that opinion, not only because I believe in their agenda but also because I believe that you cannot kill an ideology, even if you beat up or get rid of their leaders. If that would have been the case the Civil Rights movement would have died, the demonstrations against the Vietnam War would have faded with no results, Gandhi’s non-violent movement would have failed and Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette would not have been beheaded.
We will need to see if this grass movement will use its message and energy to put their ideas into action next November elections.
Recently a chart has been shown about the income disparity between the 1% of income earners or like the Republican Party calls “Job Creators”. What a crock. They may be creating jobs but not in this country, maybe in China, Mexico or other country that has no regulations against pollution or child labor exploitation, like many countries out there.
Isn’t it just a coincidence that the disparity starting growing since 1981, this is in my book the beginning of running this country into ground, and it starts with Ronald Reagan and his policy of government destruction, except for the wasteful Department of Defense, and the reform of taxation favoring the wealthiest at the expense of the rest of the country.
Now let’s look at what O.W.S. (Occupy Wall Street) stand for compared to the Tea Party. The OWS believes that Wall Street and the wealthy should start paying their fair share of taxes, not what they are paying now, they believe in a function of government, by loaning or pardoning loans to students, fairness in society. They represent different walks of life, different backgrounds, different income levels, different age levels. This movement has spread across the country to many cities including L.A., Denver, Boston, Chicago, Oakland, Kansas City. They were small business owners, students, retired people. There were no guns at any of the Occupy rallies across the country. They were funded by donations by people who supported the people who were camping in these cities. The OWS say they are unhappy with both parties because both of them have sold themselves to Corporate America.
Now let us look at the Tea Party. They cannot say that they represent the vast majority of the population as they only represent the fringe of the Republican Party. They are in their vast majority white people. That in itself tells me that there are not representative of the country. The Tea Party was funded by groups such as Americans for Prosperity who is funded by the Koch Brothers, the oil barons of the country, and by Karl Rove’s American Crossroads that is funded by 3 billionaires. They showed up at events with hand and machine guns, because they said that the 2nd Amendment protected them.
This group believes that the wealthy should pay less in taxes, even if it means bankrupting the nation, and that we should “flatten” the tax code, so that the 46% who don’t pay federal income tax, because their income is not high enough start paying more, that only the few have options with education, that we should spend limitless amounts of money for the Department of Defense, that we should cut benefits for seniors and the poor by cutting Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.
The Republican Party and its spokesperson Fox News have started name calling the people who have been demonstrating now for two months, by calling them bums, drug addicts, criminals, while there is no proof of any of this. This shows a total lack of sensitivity for what the middle class and poor are going through as the OWS is Middle America. Those same republicans we saying in 2010 that America was taking back the country from the socialist measures of Obama. I guess that the 99% does not suit the needs of the Republican Party and its radical agenda.
The OWS has its work cut out for itself as rough days lay ahead because as we have seen lately cities across the country are using brutal force by the police to disband them. Many of these mayors have received campaign funds from Corporate America, so they cannot allow the middle class and the poor to rebel against the status quo.
Pundits such as Bill O’Reilly are saying that the Occupy Wall Street group is finished. I disagree with that opinion, not only because I believe in their agenda but also because I believe that you cannot kill an ideology, even if you beat up or get rid of their leaders. If that would have been the case the Civil Rights movement would have died, the demonstrations against the Vietnam War would have faded with no results, Gandhi’s non-violent movement would have failed and Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette would not have been beheaded.
We will need to see if this grass movement will use its message and energy to put their ideas into action next November elections.
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
The middle class fights back
When Governor John Kasich, Republican from Ohio won the governorship last November his main objective was, just like other Republican governors across the nation, to dismantle the unions at the state level, and by doing so weakening one of the pillars of the Democratic Party.
The Republicans governors have used the excuse in states such as Ohio, Wisconsin, Florida, Nevada was that cutting costs was good for the economic health of the states. That made sense to a lot of people, but what people were not being told was that in the case of Ohio, the governor gave himself a pay increase of $10,000 dollars, he cut taxes for corporations and the wealthy, cut funding for education and services, including firefighters and police, thus not helping but hurting communities.
When Governor Kasich, and his majorities in both the State Assembly and Senate were not counting on was that the people would organize a recall of the law to ban collective bargaining, the main tool that people have to negotiate their income and benefits, as a unite, not individually, also called union.
This election is being watched across the country because it may indicate how the middle class may look at the election of November 2012. It also is being watched because, as I said earlier, people in many states are unhappy and are having second thoughts with the people whom they elected in 2010.
It is also an indication of what a president Mitt Romney or Herman Cain may be if they win the White House in 2012, cutting taxes for the wealthy, for corporations, eliminating protective regulations and the institution that control some of those regulations such as the E.P.A. (Environmental Protection Agency), cut Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, thus hurting the middle class and the working poor.
The Obama Administration was more involved in the Ohio voting at least supporting the people who did all the leg work by making phone calls, knocking on doors, than it was with the recalls of some of the senate members in Wisconsin.
Let us hope that the working people of this country use this election as a reason to fight back against the obstructionist Republican Party that has controlled the U.S. House of Representatives since January, and they fight back, not just only in Ohio, but also across country in the election of 2012.
The Republicans governors have used the excuse in states such as Ohio, Wisconsin, Florida, Nevada was that cutting costs was good for the economic health of the states. That made sense to a lot of people, but what people were not being told was that in the case of Ohio, the governor gave himself a pay increase of $10,000 dollars, he cut taxes for corporations and the wealthy, cut funding for education and services, including firefighters and police, thus not helping but hurting communities.
When Governor Kasich, and his majorities in both the State Assembly and Senate were not counting on was that the people would organize a recall of the law to ban collective bargaining, the main tool that people have to negotiate their income and benefits, as a unite, not individually, also called union.
This election is being watched across the country because it may indicate how the middle class may look at the election of November 2012. It also is being watched because, as I said earlier, people in many states are unhappy and are having second thoughts with the people whom they elected in 2010.
It is also an indication of what a president Mitt Romney or Herman Cain may be if they win the White House in 2012, cutting taxes for the wealthy, for corporations, eliminating protective regulations and the institution that control some of those regulations such as the E.P.A. (Environmental Protection Agency), cut Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, thus hurting the middle class and the working poor.
The Obama Administration was more involved in the Ohio voting at least supporting the people who did all the leg work by making phone calls, knocking on doors, than it was with the recalls of some of the senate members in Wisconsin.
Let us hope that the working people of this country use this election as a reason to fight back against the obstructionist Republican Party that has controlled the U.S. House of Representatives since January, and they fight back, not just only in Ohio, but also across country in the election of 2012.
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