Counting Sheep

Wow, that was really strange!

This morning, I woke up feeling refreshed. That is a very unusual feeling indeed. Most nights I'm lucky to sleep for six hours. Sometimes it takes two to three hours to even fall asleep. Last night, I fell asleep quickly, and I slept more than seven hours. And it was a good sleep, not filled with tossing and turning as usual. 

I've struggled with sleep issues for many years. I have taken sleep classes and read books about sleep. I was diagnosed with sleep apnea a few years ago and now use a CPAP machine at night. Nothing has helped. My entire family has or had sleep issues, something my physician said isn't uncommon. Why this is the case is unknown. Sleeping pills can't, or shouldn't, be used on a regular basis. So getting a really good night of sleep unaided by medication is so nice.

I like to sleep in a cool room, and with nighttime temperatures now in the upper 40s, keeping a bedroom window open makes for perfect sleeping conditions.

All I know is that waking up refreshed after a good night's sleep is a wonderful feeling!

Where's Your Happy Place?

Every so often, I think about moving to a smaller house with less land to take care of.

Perhaps I should move someplace overseas, where the weather is warmer and the cost of living lower. Then I think about health issues. I have a couple of medical specialists I see on a regular basis, and I really don't want to have to worry about finding a good retina specialist in say, Spain or Portugal or Costa Rica.

How about southeastern Africa? I love visiting Kenya, Botswana and Tanzania. But I don't think I could adjust to living there.

Perhaps I would like Florida. No, too much violence, not to mention the threat of hurricanes. And don't forget the bugs!

I can definitely eliminate the South (bugs, heat, humidity and I don't like the Bible Belt way of thinking). I spent three years in Texas, and I can say that part of the country isn't for me.

The Northeast? Oh, no, it's far too cold and snowy there. I don't ski or ice skate, and I have no desire to spend time outside in the snow.

The Pacific Northwest? It's beautiful, but that part of the country gets a lot of rain. That would make me depressed.

As someone who doesn't swim, doesn't fish and doesn't particularly enjoy boating, beach life has no appeal to me.

I love lots of sunshine, warm temperatures and low humidity. I also prefer less populated locales. I liked the weather in California, but it's too crowded and expensive for a retiree.  

So that leaves the Southwest, where I have lived for the past 9 years. I love my house, which has wonderful views of the Sandia Mountains. I love the privacy my 1/2-acre lot provides. I love the sunshine and the low humidity. How low? As low as 5 percent!  

The Southwest is good, but not just anyplace in the Southwest will do. I have realized that my happy place must include mountains. Fortunately, most of America's West and Southwest does include mountains. As John Muir once said, "The mountains are calling and I must go."

So for now, I will stay where I am, happily enjoying 300 days of sunshine, low humidity, clean air and amazing mountains.

What about you? Where is your happy place?

A Trashy Subject

I went for a walk one recent morning, as I do every day.

But that walk was different. I had already walked my dogs, so I decided to take advantage of a beautiful spring morning and walk down a paved walking trail I hadn't taken in quite a while. About half way to the end of the trail (it isn't very long), I saw a bench where I wanted to stop and remove a pebble from my shoe. Behind the bench was a plastic grocery bag. So I picked it up and planned to take it home to properly dispose of it. Inside was an empty 12-ounce beer can. On the ground nearby was another 12-ounce beer can and a 32-ounce can.

I continued my walk and soon came across the cardboard carton that had held 12 cans of beer. Inside were three cans still full of beer. I emptied them and put the empty cans in the bag, along with the cardboard carton. 

I live in a very nice neighborhood full of lovely houses. Yet every day I see at least one discarded can or bottle during my walks. What kind of people do this? What kind of people can't be bothered to properly dispose of their trash? I don't believe this trash is left behind by homeowners. It appears to have been tossed from passing vehicles, except for the trash that was obviously left behind by people on foot near the bench where I found it. Someone was able to carry in a 12-pack of beer, but that person was obviously too weak to carry out the trash.

The following day, as I drove to the grocery store, I passed a large, full plastic trash bag dumped on the side of a road that is fairly heavily used. Again I wondered, what kind of person thinks it's OK to do this? I guess it's the same kind of people who think it's OK to dump old toilets, tires and a hot tub on some vacant city-owned property nearby, rather than taking these items to the city dump.

I wonder whether these people treat their homes and yards this way. I'd guess many of the offenders are young (who else drinks Pabst and cheap whiskey?), and I don't know any adults who enjoy pulling down street signs. My parents taught me better than to throw trash out the car window. Somewhere along the way our country has gone terribly wrong. And we have gone wrong in so many areas, not just in throwing trash around.

What happened to our sense of pride, to our sense of decorum and personal resonsibility? What happened to leaving an area in a better condition than we found it? What happened to taking care of the only planet we have on which to live?

Deciding to Change a Life

It isn't often I get to directly impact the life of another person, especially someone on the other side of the planet.

Thanks to the efforts of people at Save the Elephants, a wonderful organization in Nairobi, Kenya, I have the ability to do just that. For the past two years, I have sponsored the high school education of a student from rural Kenya. She is from a very poor family, and without the STE scholarship, she could not afford to attend high school. My annual sponsorship contribution of $1,500US helps pay for her uniforms (students in public schools in Kenya wear uniforms), supplies and other expenses.

Just think about it. For many Americans, $1,500 isn't all that much money. Many people spend that much, or more, on Starbucks coffee or cable television every year. Being able to offer a life-changing opportunity to an impoverished student is an amazing thing. Of course, as in the US, graduating from high school without going on to more education isn't a great thing. College or vocational school is necessary if the student is really going to go places. But completing high school is a necessary first step.

I got to meet my student, a young lady named Jecinta, when I was in Kenya a couple of summers ago. English isn't her first language, so communication was a bit hindered, but it was so wonderful to have her join my friends and me for lunch at a lodge run by Save the Elephants.

Sponsoring Jecinta's education is the second time I have been able to change a life. The first was when I adopted my daughter from Russia in 2004. She was 11 years old at the time. Her life choices haven't always been the best, and she has struggled, but she is now making better decisions and seems to be on the path to a better life as an adult. In any event, her life here in America is far better than it would have been had she stayed in Russia.

Many years ago I sponsored a child through he Save the Children organization. I don't remember her name, but she was a member of the Cherokee Nation in North Carolina. For some reason no longer remembered, my then-husband and I didn't continue the sponsorship for more than a few years. 

This post isn't about me looking for accolades or praise. It's simply to let people know that opportunities to help change a life are out there, both domestically and internationally. We don't have to have the wealth of a Bill Gates or a Warren Buffet to make a difference in a child's life.

The Habit of Silence

I recently read a book written by a Jewish survivor of World War II Germany.

As the German army fled the oncoming Soviet troops at the end of the war, the author of the book noted "the habit of silence" in his country. Jews like the author remained silent about their background as they hid, sometimes in plain sight, to avoid the Nazi death camps. They could tell no one who they really were.

Germans who didn't support the Nazis maintained a habit of silence out of fear they would be reported to the authorities by family or friends. Those who supported the resistance efforts had to keep silent about what they were doing or face execution, not only of themselves but of their entire families.

Is the United States now experiencing a habit of silence? Immigrant children are torn from their parents and kept in cages. The administration has no plans to try to reunite these families. The neo-Nazis and KKK have been emboldened by the racist rhetoric of their president. Tear gas was used to drive back hordes of immigrants seeking entrance to the United States after storming the border at San Diego. Were the Americans who oppose such tactics guilty of the habit of silence?

I don’t believe that Americans are afraid of being killed or dragged off to death camps if they speak up against the current regime. But a woman was arrested for laughing during a confirmation hearing for former Attorney General Jeff Sessions. News media outlets that don't toe the party line and effusively praise the president (or who even dare to accurately report what he said) are labeled as 'fake news.' So perhaps there is an effort underway to silence critics and anyone who disagrees with the insanity that is now passing for 'normal.'

We cannot be silent about the attacks on our rights and on our nation. It seems that most of the uproar and outcry against the tactics and policies of the current administration take place on social media. Unfortunately, these tactics have absolutely no influence on this administration. So for all the posts and tweets and videos flying around every day, we may as well be silent. 

Do these actions actually make a difference, other than making us feel like we are doing something to resist? I don’t believe they do. And I don’t believe it’s because these tactics are not effective. It’s because the current administration and its ‘Great Leader’ in the White House don’t care what public opinion says. They don’t care about the effects of their actions and policies on average Americans. They care only about keeping their multi millionaire and billionaire friends, as well as corporations, happy. They get their advice from entertainment reporters on Fox News.

So it seems that our voices have been forced into silence. No matter how many times we express our opinions to our elected representatives, or how many letters to the editor we submit, or how many tweets or Facebook posts we make, nothing changes. Perhaps we will have to wait until the 2020 election to effect meaningful change. The 2018 midterm elections did return the House of Representatives (now there's a misnomer!) to Democratic control. And Speaker Nancy Pelosi successfully outmaneuvered Dump over the five-week closing of the federal government. Now let's see what she and her colleagues -- including several Republicans -- can do to stop the building of the expensive, unnecessary and ineffective border wall, a true monument to Dump's massive ego.

Let's be clear. I have never been a huge fan of Nancy Pelosi. But she seems to be the only person willing and capable of standing up to this occupant of the White House. All we little people can do is keep encouraging our elected officials of both parties to not remain silent, and to speak out against the ongoing power grabs. Remaining silent can do great harm to our nation and its citizens.

Drowning in a Sea of Plastic

As we approach another Earth Day (April 22), I have one thing on my mind: plastic.

We are killing our planet, and the animals living here, with plastic. Plastic bags. Plastic straws. Plastic water bottles. Plastic of every kind.

The oceans are filled with floating islands of plastic, much of it discharged from passing ships. Beaches are littered with countless plastic bottles. Whales, turtles and other marine life are dying because of plastic. A dolphin starved to death when a plastic 'ring' got caught around its snout, keeping it clamped shut. A whale that died near the Philippines was found to have nearly 90 pounds of plastic in its stomach. Urban landscapes are littered with discarded plastic grocery bags.

The statistics are staggering. A person uses a plastic bag on average for only 12 minutes. On average we recycle only one plastic bag of every 200 we use. Each year, an estimated 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide. According to the Earth Policy Institute, nearly 2 million plastic bags are used per minute. 

At least 16 African countries have announced bans on certain types of plastic bags, to varying levels of effectiveness. Before a ban on thin bags—which tear readily and get caught by the wind—went into effect in 2003, plastic bags were christened South Africa’s “national flower” because of their prevalence in bushes and trees. Thicker bags are taxed. Many European countries tax plastic bags or ban their free distribution. 

According to the EPI, “plastic bags have been found in stomachs of several endangered marine species,” including various turtles and porpoises, and 94 percent of North Sea birds. The Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec have each halved their plastic bag use through a variety of measures, including store incentives for using reusable bags and retailer-imposed fees. Livestock choking on plastic bags—from camels in the United Arab Emirates to sheep in Mauritania and cattle in India and Texas—have led communities to consider regulation." 

Currently 100 billion plastic bags pass through the hands of U.S. consumers every year—almost one bag per person each day. More than 150 U.S. cities and counties ban or require fees for plastic bags. California passed the first statewide ban in 2014, though Hawaii already had a de facto ban through county ordinances. Over 49 million Americans live in communities that have passed plastic bag bans or fees. U.S. cities with bag bans include San Francisco (as of 2007), Portland (2011), Seattle (2012), Austin (2013), Los Angeles (2014), Dallas (2015), and Chicago (2015). And then there is the state of Arizona, which passed a law prohibiting cities from passing legislation banning plastic bags.

Consider these statistics from the Center for Biological Diversity:

1. Americans use 100 billion plastic bags a year, which require 12 million barrels of oil to manufacture.
2. It only takes about 14 plastic bags for the equivalent of the gas required to drive one mile.
3. The average American family takes home almost 1,500 plastic shopping bags a year.
   
4. According to Waste Management, only 1 percent of plastic bags is returned for recycling. That means that the average family only recycles 15 bags a year; the rest ends up in landfills as litter.
5. Up to 80 percent of ocean plastic pollution enters the ocean from land.
6. At least 267 different species have been affected by plastic pollution in the ocean.
7. 1000 marine animals are killed by plastic bags annually.
8. One in three leatherback sea turtles has been found with plastic in its stomach.
9. Plastic bags are used for an average of 12 minutes.
10. It takes 500 (or more) years for a plastic bag to degrade in a landfill. Unfortunately the bags don't break down completely but instead photo-degrade, becoming microplastics that absorb toxins and continue to pollute the environment.

I keep an assortment of reusable bags in my car. Each bag cost me around $1, and I have recouped that minuscule cost several times over with the 5 cents/bag discount grocery stores give each time I use one of these bags. I wash them in the kitchen sink to keep them clean. Yet whenever I go grocery shopping, I have to ask the person bagging the groceries not to put already bagged items into another bag. 

There seems to be a compulsion to bag every single item. Yesterday I asked the bagger not to put a bag of popcorn into one of my resusable bags, as there wasn't room and it wasn't necessary. Yet when I pushed the shopping cart to my car, I found a plastic bag holding two bags of potato chips. I immediately removed the chip bags from the grocery bag and returned it to the store's bag recycling box. But why won't people listen when I say I don't want, or need, a plastic bag for every single item? Likewise, if I buy one or two small items, DON'T PUT THEM INTO A PLASTIC BAG! I am quite capable of carrying things in my hands.

I have seen people pushing grocery carts from the store with a cart holding 15-20 plastic bags of food. Why? Why not use reusable bags for their purchases? The question used to be asked, "Paper or plastic?" Now, paper bags are an option only at Trader Joe's, which uses paper grocery bags as the only choice (aside from reusable bags, of course). 

And plastic straws? How many people actually need to use a straw to drink from a glass or cup? Really, the only people using straws should be those who are unable to drink from a can, cup or glass without using a straw. What happened to paper straws, which were in use for decades? And what about personal, reusable, cleanable stainless steel straws? There are options other than plastic. I saw an online video of a family of boaters trying to remove a plastic straw that was deeply embedded in one nostril of a large sea turtle. The people finally were able to remove the straw from the obviously distressed turtle and release it back into the water. 

I am glad to learn that some restaurants no longer automatically give a straw with each drink. They have straws available to those who ask for them. Yet a patron of a fast food restaurant recently attacked the young woman working the counter because she didn't automatically hand him a straw. 

Our self-entitled, it's-all-about-me and the environment-be-damned attitude is killing our plant -- the only know habitable planet we have. Is it such a hardship to give up plastic drinking straws or to use reusable grocery bags? When I buy something at REI, I am always asked whether I need a bag for my purchase, and I always say I do not. 

Lost: The Right to Privacy

Why is my personal information for sale online?

I have given no one permission to publish my personal information, including my unlisted phone number, my home address (with a map showing where I live), my e-mail address, age, names of family (and former family) members, and other personal details. 

And even when I demand that my personal information be removed (which I believe the companies are required by law to do), it's only a matter of months before it reappears. I have spent hours online locating and requesting removal of my information. 

Why do I have to track down all these companies that are publishing my personal information without my permission? Why do I have to 'opt out' of having my information available to the world? Anybody who doesn't mind having their personal information available to anybody who wants it should be required to opt in. The burden should be on the company wishing to sell the information to obtain permission to do so, not on the individual whose personal information is sold.

I realize that some personal information is readily available from property and tax records. But my e-mail address, phone number, age and family members should not be. And even if the information is available, it shouldn't be used without permission.

I do have an online presence. That is my choice. But the information available on various social media sites is information that I have posted. I control what I post and what personal information I share, and with whom I share it. But other personal information, such as my age, birth date, unlisted phone number and e-mail address, among others, is not something I want to have available for sale to anybody willing to pay a few dollars to get it.  

There is something seriously wrong when businesses are able to collect personal information, publish it and sell it to anybody who wants it, all without the knowledge or permission of the owner of that information. In a time when identity theft is rampant, we need to press lawmakers to take steps to forbid any collection, publication and transfer of an individual's personal information without that person's express written consent.

I have requested to not receive preapproved credit card offers, yet I still receive at least one a week. Most of the mail I receive goes directly into the recycle bin. Some gets shredded and then recycled. I got so many phone calls from spammers to my unlisted home phone number that I stopped answering it and turned off the ringer and answering function. Anybody who needs to reach me calls my cell phone. And I won't answer that phone unless I recognize the number or am expecting a call.

When did we give up our rights to privacy? And what can we do to get them back? Sadly, it seems too late to restore these rights in the face of the 'maximize profits at all costs' Republican administration.The government's do-not-call list is a joke. Unsubscribing from e-mail lists to which I never subscribed is a daily occurrence. And now businesses are capturing my IP address when I visit their site, resulting in the inevitable arrival of spam e-mails I never agreed to receive. 

I fear the genie is out of the bottle, we have lost all expectations of privacy, and we aren't likely to ever have control of our personal information.

The Rise of Whataboutism

Have you noticed the proliferation of whataboutism in social media?

Whaqtaboutism isn't new. It's been around for quite a while, but it has undergone a resurgence recently. 

I know. Whataboutism isn't really a word, but it is a perfect descriptor of the all-too-common trend in social media of people commenting on a post about some controversial topic. Rather than posting a relevant comment, the poster replies with "What about" something else. These attempts to discredit an opponent's position or statement by charging the poster with hypocrisy, rather than by directly disproving or refuting their argument, are usually called out very quickly.

Here are a few examples:

• In a post about a charity that helps fund development of wells in Africa that help provide access to clean water to millions of people, someone posted "What about the people in Flint (Michigan)? They still don't have safe drinking water." Of course, the 'whatabout' comment was totally off topic.
• When someone posted a sweet story about a Chinese girl with Down syndrome being adopted by a family in Texas, "What about all the American kids waiting to be adopted?" was the response of one woman.
• Any story pointing out the corruption of the current administration will invariably be met with "But what about Hillary?" 
• In an online story about a horrific case of animal abuse, someone will invariably respond with "What about all the babies murdered in this country every year? Nobody cares about them."
• When in a previous career I was serving on a federal committee to oversee the use of non-human primates in research, I was contacted by a local animal advocate who asked "What about the millions of rats and mice used in research?"

Those who use whataboutism clearly have no rational statements or facts to state that will truly refute the original statement. Whataboutism adds nothing to a discussion. It does nothing to strengthen the user's position, nor does it do anything to weaken or expose the alleged hypocrisy of the opponent's position. 

In short, the use of whataboutism simply makes those who use it look clueless, uneducated, not very bright or incapable of refuting an opponent's position. Anybody who uses whataboutism to rebut an argument is desperate and lacking in the ability to make a rational argument.  

We need to restore our ability to rationally argue our cases without resorting to name calling and whataboutism. Neither practice advances the discussion. Whataboutism is a waste of time, and those who have no argument other than "what about" should be ignored.