Some Thoughts About Words

There are certain words and phrases I simply dislike.

Here are the first to come to mind: 

Sales event 

Moderate to severe 

Terms and conditions 

Cookies (the computer kind, not the edible kind)

Travel consideration

Snacks

Why is every car sale advertised as a 'sales event'? First of all, I don't believe that cars ever go on sale. And what makes it an event?

The term moderate to severe is heard numerous times every day in every commercial for every prescription medication. Is every disease moderate to severe?

Terms and conditions is another phrase used everywhere, from Web sites to online. "You must read the terms and conditions." "Terms and conditions apply." The terms and conditions always include multiple pages of small type, or they are repeated verbally by someone who must be an auctioneer.

Cookies. Why are these things called cookies? Real cookies are good. These electronic cookies, small bits of text placed on any website I visit, store information about my Web browsing activities. How does this benefit me? I'm not sure that it does. I routinely reject cookies on various sites, and I have seen no change in my browsing experience. 

What does travel consideration even mean?

And snacks is a word I have always disliked. There is simply something irritating about the sound of the word. 

This is true for several words that end in -y-or -ies. For example, the word patty, as in sausage patty. And what's wrong with using the word underwear rather than panties. I understand that panties is a diminuative of pants, but it is such an annoying word, especially when used to refer to women's, not children's, underwear. To me, it infantilizes women. 

As you probably can tell, the proper use of the English language is important to me. And it's more than spelling and grammar. It's also the sound of the words we use.

How Much Is Enough?

How much money does one person need?

Really, how much wealth is enough? 

When you have enough money to buy absolutely everything you want, be it houses or airplanes or yachts or private islands, or even a presidential election, how much money do you need? 

Based on America's richest people, I guess that number has no limit. A million dollars? $10 million? $100 million? A billion dollars? 100 billion dollars? There seems to be no upper limit to what these people want.

Just look at how excited they are about getting their 2017 income tax cuts permanently extended. Other people, including the lower and middle classes, pay their fair share of taxes. And they will pay even more under the recently enacted tax legislation. Meanwhile, the uberwealthy pay nothing or next to nothing in taxes.

Some billionaires, including Warren Buffett and Bill Gates, leave most of the money to charities. Others, such as the current resident of the White House, are so greedy they even steal money from a children's cancer charity.

Singer/songwriter Taylor Swift is a multibillionaire, but she does a lot of good with her wealth. She makes a substantial donation to the food bank of every city where she performs. She gives large bonuses to her stage crew. She has contributed to disaster relief, education, cancer research, women's rights and LBGTQ rights.

Dolly Parton is another person who does a lot of good with her millions. Her charitable works focus on childhood literacy (the Imagination Library, for example), disaster relief, college scholarships, medical research and other causes. 

There are millionaires and billionaires who do good things with their immense wealth. Sadly, many do nothing but hoard money and do everything possible to get more, regardless of who gets hurt in the process.

I am not wealthy, but I believe that those who can afford to help are morally obligated to help.

Not Celebrating This Year

 

America's Independence Day is just one day away.

But this is not a day to celebrate our traditional freedoms, which are rapidly being stolen by a Republican regime hellbent on remaking our democratic republic into a theocratic cult of personality where anyone who isn't white straight and male doesn't matter.

Women continue to lose the freedom to choose when or whether to bear a child. A woman who suffers a miscarriage can face criminal charges. Women will die when unable to get the medical treatment they urgently need because physicians fear being criminally charged. The far right zealots want women to know their place, stay home and have multiple children.

I saw something online recently that said that the 4th of July has been canceled due to a shortage of independence for women.

Deark-skinned people -- whether US citizens, legal immigrants or immigrants here illegally -- risk being rounded up and shippted off to other countries where the unforunate people have no history, no knowledge of the culture and don't speak the language. This is not deportation.

Now the regime is considering revoking visas and the citizenship of naturalized citizens. Cruelty, it seems, is the point.

Trans people are being forced out of the military, and those who recently completed training at a US military academy will never be allowed to serve. How is this making America great again?

Voting rights are at risk, as are the rights of asylum seekers and immigrants.

The right to peaceful assembly and protest, as guaranteed in the US Constitution, is at risk. Congress and the legislatures of 19 states have introduced 52 bills that would limit the right to protest.

Freedom of speech is at risk, with the regime demanding the firing of those who speak against the regime.

The right to due process is being violated daily when immigrants are snatched off the street, shoved into a vehicle by unidentified masked men, and deported to a prison somewhere in the world without an arrest warrant, criminal charges or appearance before a judge.

Freedom of religion, as well as freedom from religion, is a joke as the regime and its allies push to make this country a Christian nation. Actually, make that a christo-fascist nation. Courts have consistently shot down state requirements to require that the Ten Commandments be posted prominantly in school classrooms and in courtrooms.

The regime has caused the firing of tens of thousands of federal employees for no real reason.

The regime is slashing international, life-saving food and medicine. The regime is throwing millions of Americans, many of them children and the elderly, off Medicaid. The regime is sladhing food progams millions rely on for their survival.

The president continues to be an embarrassment to this country (those who aren't cult members). He continues to grift and to lie about everything.

So, while I love my country, I do not love what it has become. America has been, and should be, so much better. 

What Kind of Person Are You?

I ran across this question in a book I read recently, a biography, of notorious Nazi concentration camp guard Maria Mandl.

The question was asked of the author of the book by a survivor of the notorious Nazi concentration camps. She was not interested in the author's credentials, but rather in knowing what kind of person she was. At the heart of the question is whether someone would be the kind of person to hide a Jewish person from the Nazis, at the risk of losing their own life.

I think this is a wonderful question, something each of us should ask ourselves every so often. Not the part about hiding a Jew from Nazis, but more widely. What kind of person am I?

I'd guess that most of us consider ourselves to be good, caring people. But are we really? From my point of view, far too many Americans are anything but good and kind.

I once was Facebook friends with a woman who commented that she had health insurance, so why should she care about those who don't? I ended our 'friendship' at that point. Should I state that I have access to plenty of food, so why should I care that some people in the US, and even more around the world, don't have enough to eat? That's not the kind of person I am. And that is why I support organizations such as Meals on Wheels, World Central Kitchen and Roadrunner Food Bank, which provide food to those who cannot afford food. 

We're not talking about luxuries; I don't care if someone can't afford a luxury car or a mansion. I'm talking about health care, housing, food and other necessities. How can I not care?

Would I, had I lived during World War II, risked my life to hide a Jewish person? I have asked myself that question. And honestly, I don't know the answer. I like to think I would have, but I don't know whether I would have been brave enough to take that risk. Fortunately, I am not likely to ever find myself in that position.

But I do think I am a good, kind person. I have adopted 16 dogs. I adopted my daughter from an orphanage in Siberia. I donate to a variety of charities throughout the year. I care about the environment. I pick up trash in my neighborhood, I drive a hybrid vehicle, I recycle everything that is recyclable where I live. I donate to a variety of non-profit organizations in the US and internationally. 

I think this world would be a much better place if more of us took a close look at ourselves and asked, "What kind of person am I?"

Whatever Happened?

Is this how we make America great?

Do we make America great -- and that's assuming America isn't already great -- by attacking our closest allies, cozying up to tyrants, upending the world's economic system by imposing tariffs on imported goods, and by sending troops to attack Americans protesting the removal of immigrants with no due process? Is America made greater by removing freedom of choice from women, and by trying to impose Christian nationalism on the populace? 

Is America made great by cutting taxes on billionaires while at the same time removing several million low-income Americans from health insurance? Are we made great by refusing to allow one of the world's best universities to admit international students, thereby depriving our country of some of the best and brightest minds?

Are we made great by raining insults and retribution on anyone who dares to disagree with the wanna-be dictator in the White House? Are we greater after transfender members of our military are summarily kicked out of the service they have willingly agreed to join?  Does threatening to arrest the governor of the state of California -- the world's fifth largest economy -- make America great?

That isn't my idea of greatness. Whatever happened to due process that is supposed to be applied to everyone in the US, regardless of immigration status? Whatever happened to the rule of law? to defending the US Constitution? to respecting the rulings of courts of all levels?

I Just Don’t Care Anymore

I am quickly reaching, or perhaps I have already reached, the point where I just don't care.

Everything is overwhelming, especially things that are most important to me. I care about the environment, which is at grave risk of being destroyed by the current regime in Washington, DC. I care deeply about animals, both wild and domestic. Species protected by the Endangered Species Act are about to lose protection. I care about children, and I am saddened to learn that the Head Start program is about to be canceled. I am furious that the current regime has seen fit to deport several young children suffering from cancer. What kind of society are we living in?

I care about peace, and I just learned that the so-called leader of the free world is about to commit American troops to fight in Yemen. That’s not our war. And of course, the young men and women who will be sent to fight are not the children of the super wealthy. The Republicans love war as long as they can stand on the sidelines and watch. Oh, and as long as they can make big bucks from the war. 

The dictator-in-waiting is threatening to "walk away" from efforts to end Russia's war on Ukraine unless an agreement is reached soon. The only way Putin will agree to end the war is if Ukraine capitulates to Moscow's demands.

I am constantly bombarded with appeals for money, online and in snail mail. My charitable donations dropped by probably 75 percent last year. No matter how much I donate, it's never enough. I donated $500 to one non-profit, and was quickly asked to donate $1500. I made an annual donation to another group, and was then asked to donate for three consecutive months. I am always asked to "cover the cost of my donation," something that really annoys me. What's next -- covering the cost of the computers that process my donation, or the cost of electricity? I refuse to pay for the privilege of making a donation.

So I just don't care any more. Not when the super wealthy in this country don't pay their fair share of taxes. Not when they spend ridiculous amounts of money on superfluous, wasteful spending. Not when the president of the United States spends hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars on his never-ending golf trips. Not when multimillionaires have millions of dollars to spare for a 10 minute ride into space.

I refuse to give up. I will remain hopeful that things will get better, as difficult as that may be. I will continue to do things that bring me pleasure. But it sure isn't easy.

It’s Just Too Much

I don't know about you, but the constant chaos, lies and pandemonium that we Americans, at least those of us who aren't members of the cult, are forced to live through are taking a toll on my mind and body.

It's exhausting. Reading day after day after day after day about the incessant babbling of the president of this once great country. Watching him travel at taxpayer expense to Middle Eastern countries where he is treated like the king he wants to be as he sets up deals that benefit not our country, but himself. It's all about him being feted by very wealthy people. Watching how his government prosecutes people who dare to speak out against him after he has insulted them repeatedly is extremely distressing. Watching the courts refuse to do anything to try to reign him in is very discouraging.

They're taking my enthusiasm away. They're taking my will to do anything except sit home and read or watch television. They're taking my energy away. All I want to do after the sun goes down is to crawl into bed. Fortunately, my dogs keep me up and moving. Each gets a 1-mile walk every early morning.

I have lost many hours of sleep, worrying about this country and what is being done to dismantle it. One recent night found me awake for 4 hours as I stared at the ceiling in the darkness. I thought about getting up, but if I got up, my dogs would get up. And their routine indicates that after they get up and go outside for a potty break, they have breakfast. That wasn't going to happen at 1:00 a.m.

I am looking forward to some travel this year that should provide not only a respite from the terrible news, but also offer opportunities for some great photography. I have reduced the amount of time I spend on social media, and the only news I watch is a 30-minute local news program followed by a 30-minute national news broadcast. 

I read a lot, but sometimes I get tired of reading. I exercise every day. And most of the television I watch is historical or archaeological or science-based. I cannot deal with the inanity of sitcoms with their canned laughter. 

A break from the insanity of American politics will be a welcome respite, especially when I am overseas. Of course, for the first time in my life, I have to worry about whether I will be thrown in jail as I return to the US because of something I may have posted somewhere online. So much for freedom of speech. So much for the Fourth Amendment. So much for our democracy.