Unscientific Assessment

 I recently went on a very long road trip, and listened to a lot of radio. I decided to concentrate on Country Western music, even though it's not something I like very much. My assessment goal was to pay attention to the words and see what they say about life.

Most of the songs were about relationships. These are the stereotypes I came away with from country music:

A woman is small, beautiful and can "please her man." She looks great in jeans and a tank top. She can also be evil and conniving, but these are only the bad women. A woman seems to make serving a man her life's desire. What happens to her own dreams and goals?

Men are rough and tumble, bad at talking about feelings, jealous, and fall in love based mainly on looks - the looks of the woman make them weak in the knees, of course. Where is his desire to see the woman soar in her own life dreams? He doesn't appear to need to offer her any support in this area. 

A person should be raised by a mama who is an excellent cook and homemaker and instills in her children a faith in God and loyalty to family.

I learned very little about dads.

Very little about real-life struggles except for occasionally romanticizing being poor (down to earth).

Nothing about same sex relationships.

Nothing about people of color - people are assumed to be white? It seems that women should be blond.

Nothing about social justice issues.

I heard ONE song with these lyrics by Kelsea Ballerini: "I miss me. I miss my dreams. I miss my wings." The woman in her song, apparently in hooking up with a man, gave up her own dreams and her independence. At least she is realizing what happened. Is he?

This made me wonder about the world view of country music listeners and about their politics. Do they really see the above descriptors as the ideal? Do they really think this describes the way the world should turn? Maybe this is one of the reasons why a certain t-man whom I shall not name rose to such power and remains as "God, Jr." in the eyes of his supporters. He epitomizes this life to them? 

The thing is, I know and love people who listen to country music. I don't believe they hold these restrictive ideals for the roles of men and women. I am wondering how people can listen to country music all day long and not get sick and tired of its sameness. And I am wondering, do people who hold limited world views gravitate to country music? Does country music help mold limited world views? Or is listening to this music completely separate from one's politics and world views?

I may have offended some readers, and for that I apologize. You may have guessed that I, for one, will never be a country music super-fan.

(I do like bluegrass which, in my opinion, does include a wider world view and more inclusive perspectives. That's as close as I come.)

Minnesota Politics - the Primary

I voted in the primary election, and attended an election party. I'm so proud of Minnesota - we had huge turnout for the primary, and blew all the other states out of the water with our attendance.

The person I voted for for the governor candidate position did not win, but I'm still so proud of her. One of these days we will have a woman governor. And I will be happy to vote for the person (a guy) who did win the candidate position. Crossing my fingers for "my" guy to win, because the other one is a Trump puppet. We do NOT need that in Minnesota!

Minnesota leads the nation again in that we have a Somali-American woman running for Congress (first in the nation), and she is in a district that nearly always votes her party, so she's likely to win. We also, in the past, elected the first Muslim member of Congress (he is currently running for Minnesota Attorney General), and in Minnesota legislature in past years, we elected the nation's first Hmong-American member of the House (a woman). I love our record of leading the nation in these ways.

The election party was fun, even though disappointing that our first choice did not win. I got my tiny brush with fame. Here is my photo gallery:

great-niece came from 150 miles away - she voted for the first time ever

St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter III - watch for him; he is surely a rising star -- very impressive

Keith Ellison, current member of Congress, running for MN Attorney General - I shook his hand

Erin Murphy - she is so impressive! I'm sad she did not win.

I think I was out too late and had too much excitement for someone my age. I was so tired today, I took two naps!

Love and Wonder: Why Trump Will Never Enjoy Christmas

A friend shared this essay with me, and it's excellent; I had to share. I hope Mr. Allen doesn't mind.

Love and Wonder - by Neal Allen
Mr. Trump’s job is much harder than you or I can imagine. Yes, he accidentally stumbled into the position of leading the world. But that’s not his toughest job. Acting like a president is a cake walk for Donald J compared to his lifelong, relentless responsibility to hold together his sense of self and pretend to be a man. 
It’s Christmas, so let’s be charitable. Let’s pretend for a moment that we’re all perfect when you get down to it, even Mr. Trump. We’ve generally lost touch with that perfection, especially when it belongs to someone else, but it’s there, probably smirking from the back of your closet in the pages of your high school yearbook. 
For you or me, when life gets gritty and disappointing, we have a couple of readymade tools to give us relief, analgesic patches for the backbreaking job of life. Let’s call them love and wonder. Love is what gets me past my resentment when my boss ignores my brilliant solution. Wonder is what reminds me that there’s more to life than assembling an Ikea Billy bookcase. Love is our relationship panacea. Wonder is our worldliness panacea.
Love and wonder provide, at the very least, respite from everyday suffering. They make it all worthwhile, right? With love and wonder in hand, the search for meaning can be set aside for a while. Love can help me feel all right despite another drama descending on me. Wonder can be the feeling of living in a big, glorious world even if it’s Poughkeepsie. 
For people like Mr. Trump, love and wonder aren’t available. His ilk inhabit an alternate universe filed under several names, but my favorite is pathological narcissist. This isn’t the usual petty feeling that I’m at the center of the universe, which I am. Pathological narcissism is life encased in a lead suit, the kind that even kryptonite can’t penetrate.
Imagine being blind to the majesty of an ocean or mountain, or never noticing the vitality of an infant's grip. 
Imagine not throwing your head back and laughing at the time the toilet paper trailed behind you like a bridal train. Or feeling the soft satisfaction when you noticed for the first time that your new titanium alloy knee stopped throbbing.
For the pathological narcissist, it’s never time to drop your guard or care to be gentle. It’s hard like a rock and hard like hard work. Always.
As a president who ignores the social values of fair play and compassion, Mr. Trump deserves our resistance. As a human being who has never known the love and wonder that arise from fair play and suffering, he deserves our compassion. He didn’t ask to be a monster. He is responsible for his social actions; he is not responsible for how he came to suffer the way he does. Compassion is the form of love that arises in the presence of suffering. Mr. Trump suffers in ways that you or I cannot imagine. He suffers from the lack of respite from his own suffering.
Men like Donald J try to fill the empty hole (the persistent emptiness that substitutes for the soul of love and wonder) with one or more of three culturally defined masculine values: fame, power and money. While he has achieved prominence in all three, the weird thing is that he has done so in the most false ways possible. He is possibly the worst narcissist ever to reach the public stage.
• His money is built on debt and bankruptcy. He has never been accepted by the alpha moneymakers as one of them. They play by different rules, in which the game is already rigged legally in their favor.
• His fame is built on being famous for being famous. He has never been accepted by the Hollywood elite. They expect a little bit of hard work and talent. 
• His power is the insecurity-revealing belligerence of the autocrat and sexual predator. He cheated and lied his way to the top, and has no idea how to wield power within a normalized political system. He has to demand to be accepted. Otherwise, he correctly predicts, he will be laughed at and condemned.
So as he doggedly fills the three holes, only to watch them empty out through the bottom, a kind of lazy Sisyphus repeating a vacuous task, he doesn’t even get the satisfaction of periodic pats on the back. He's a false alpha who has managed to insert himself into a milieu of real alphas. He is the narcissist’s narcissist.
Leadership is tough enough on a person when they’re capable of compassion. The everyday leader feels the isolation and distance created by looking at other people as useful objects. 
Donald J doesn’t notice that distance; he hasn’t experienced what it’s like to occasionally merge with another object or feeling or presence and become something else that is bigger. He always feels isolated, but he doesn’t know it because he has nothing to compare it to.
So why on earth was Donald J. Trump born into this world and forced to live such a grim, cold, loveless, heartless, mean life? This is the same question that usually is presented as: Why would God take the life of a child? Only we don’t think of Donald J as a child of God, but a mature, responsible adult who is expected to obey the standard ethical codes, including wiping the pee off the toilet seat. But just as we show contempt for the entire stranger who preceded us into the public restroom, we make the mistake of applying the judgment of our political norms and political ideals to the entire person of Donald J. Trump or his sniveling bootlicker Paul Ryan, and conveniently ignore their participation in God’s unity. 
Sometimes I wish Christ had reminded us not to render unto Caesar anything that isn’t Caesar’s. I think it’s implied, but this tougher meaning is hidden in the positive. Object to Trump’s actions; that’s part of being in the political world. Hold him up to ethical and normative standards; those are Caesar’s world, and they’re relevant to nationhood and social survival. Be appalled at the greed and Social Darwinism that has descended on us. But also remember that Donald Trump isn’t having a very good Christmas. He never has and never will. As humans, that should be troubling. The rest of us, no matter our tribulations, have known what it’s like to be bolstered and immersed in love and wonder, which are, after all, the true architects of the day and birth we celebrate.

In Response to a Facebook Question: By Whose Standard?

Written in response to my Facebook post which said “Our current president is not normal.” A friend asked me, “by whose standard?”

You ask “by whose standard” do I consider our president to be not normal. My answer is as follows:

I have known you over many years, sometimes while you were in the role of quilt guild president. You have interpersonal experience and know how to lead a group. I contend that it is by your own standard that one could consider our president to be not normal. Consider these examples:

1) While attempting to publicly honor someone for their past great deeds, Trump threw out a racial slur and indicated his complete lack of knowledge of who he was honoring and what they accomplished.
As guild president you never publicly disrespected our guests or uttered racial slurs. You prepared yourself and knew why our guests were at the guild meeting.

2) While speaking publicly, did you ever mimic and ridicule a person with a disability? I never saw you do this in public. Trump, while running for president, did it.

3) I know your Christian values are very important to you. I know you probably attempt to instill these values in your children and grandchildren. I am sure you aim to socialize them to live those values, such as being kind and giving a helping hand when they can. I have seen you yourself do this in your generosity with your quilts and quilting services and in your friendliness with people.

It is not an attribute I have ever observed in our current president. He mocks people, he takes advantage of people whom he considers to be beneath him, for example refusing to pay blue collar workers on his job sites. He behaves in immoral ways and brags about it. He has five children from three different women and has cheated on all his wives and then bragged about it. He assaults women and brags about it, but later, when it’s no longer convenient to brag, he pretends he didn’t do it at all. Even in his supposed philanthropy, he brags about the millions he donates to good causes, but it is always shrouded in mystery and questions about whether it really happened. He loves to be praised for everything he does, so my guess is that the “millions” he donated is all hot air. All of these behaviors strike me as being brazenly un-Christian, far below your own standards.

4) As leader of this country, Trump has put his efforts into undoing major legislation that protects the citizens who put him in office (health care laws, environmental protection laws, consumer protection, undermining the judicial system, etc.). Did you ever do this as quilt guild president? Attempt to undo everything that was done over the past years and stick-it-to the members, making their lives unpleasant? No, it was not up to your standards to do so.

5) Trump is only concerned about himself and needs constant attention. His perennial need for accolades is immature and maddening. As a member and/or as president of the quilt guild, was your main goal to see how many of the members would give you a standing ovation every time you spoke or proposed an idea? No, that was not up to your standards.

I expect much, much more from a president of the U.S. who represents us all. His job is to represent us internationally (which he has failed at completely, making us the laughing stock of the world). His job is also to help run this country in a way that ensures we can all enjoy the “pursuit of happiness.” So far, I have not seen an increase but only a decrease in our happiness, cohesion, and trust in the future. This is all Trump’s doing and for a president is not normal.

Using the above examples, I contend that according to your own standards, Trump is not anywhere near normal. Instead he is divisive and dangerous. His actions are decidedly un-presidential which is why I say “not normal.” He doesn’t seem to understand what job he currently holds nor what it requires of him. I would never vote for him for president of a local quilt guild or for anything else. We need a return to normal.

...happily ever after?...

Democracy Happening At the Capitol

My activism days paid off recently when I went to the state Capitol and had a blast! Our state legislative session was supposed to end on May 22 at midnight, but they didn't get everything done and had to go long. So one evening I went to observe, hoping to meet with some others who were driving separately.

the Capitol at dusk, and lights on for late-night meetings

When I got there, both the House and the Senate were in recess, and no one knew when they would be called back in. Many people were just walking around the capitol, looking at loose ends (lobbyists and other visitors). I wandered around and didn't find my friends, so decided to sit in the House Gallery and wait for them to come back to work. After a while a Representative that I recognized (Rep. Hansen) walked by. I asked him a quick question, and he invited me to go observe a committee meeting with him.

It was a tax bill discussion, not exactly my cup of tea, so I was a little bored, but suddenly in burst a group of protestors. They chanted loudly, marched in with their signs, and read a statement, until security came and ushered them away.

The tax meeting only lasted a few more minutes, so then we went looking for anything else to observe... we ran into the mayor from the city where my daughter lives. Talked with her for a while, then ran into the mayor from the city that Rep. Hansen lives in. He joined us, along with one other constituent, so the four of us were looking for some action. We went outside with our flashlights to "look for some good legislation."

Didn't find any (haha), so we went back inside and then bumped into this crowd. What was happening? The majority leader was holding an impromptu press conference.

That was interesting (even though I couldn't hear what they were saying). Then, Rep. Hansen decided to see if he could get us into the recess room. It's kind of famous around here, because a comment was made during a debate one time about the "100% white male" group playing cards in the recess room while women of color were giving impassioned speeches and thereby being ignored. There was quite a flap about that by certain individuals. Anyway, we waltzed into the recess room, so I got to see the famous room. And in there was another Rep. of whom I am a big fan. (She is one of the women who had been making a good speech and being ignored by the card-playing fools.) Oops. Did I really say that? Anyway, I was excited to meet her, and get my picture taken with her.

After all this observation of democracy in action and meeting some "famous" people, I was totally excited and star-struck. I hit the jackpot with my visit that night, even though I never got to watch either house discussing bills. They were going to reconvene but not for another hour, and it was already late, so I went home and watched it on TV.

What a fun and funny night I had! The session did finally end 3-4 days after it was supposed to, but the governor is still debating about whether to sign or veto some of the bills they sent him... like we were doing with our flashlights, the governor, too, was hoping for something better which is why he has to weigh his response. (And a veto would mean another special session.. my opinion is.. veto them. The bills have some bad stuff in them.)

I never knew I'd be so interested in and excited about politics until this year when I turned into an activist. Who would have dreamed this? I've learned a lot and had fun doing so.

A Six-Year-Old's Wisdom

One of my cohorts in politics posted this online: a drawing by her six year-old son. She gave me permission to share it here. He is a wise little soul.

Getting Involved

If nothing else good happens as a result of our change in president and U.S. government administration, at least I am becoming more aware, reading more newspapers, for example, and writing, calling, e-mailing my legislators and attending political events. I have never before been this involved.

Last Thursday I went to two events. One was a hastily-put-together protest of Trump's repeal of protections for transgender youth in our schools. It was not super well attended because of its last-minute nature, but it was a good rally, organized and run by youth. I was very impressed. Several high school and college-age youth spoke eloquently of their own stories, struggles, and joys. And four legislators made short appearances as they could between meetings inside the Capitol. One is a state senator and is a nephew of a friend of mine. It was nice to meet him in person. I have heard her speak proudly of him in the past.

The man on the left, Senator Scott Dibble, is my friend's nephew.

The woman on the right is Representative Ilhan Omar, the first Somali-American elected to a governmental position in the USA, I believe. She is wonderful! I'm so proud of Minnesota for electing her.

The next event of the day was a Town Hall With or Without our Elected U.S. Congressman, Jason Lewis. He was invited, but did not show up. He has very doggedly avoided our calls and has responded to all forms of contact with either total silence or with broad, very unspecific and generic letters that say nothing. He did hold his own version of a Town Hall meeting - by phone, and by invitation only. We are constituents with no voice! We had a good meeting without him, and for his benefit, taped the meeting. I hope he watches the tape! He works for us as well as for his rich, white, male friends! We will have to keep on reminding him of that.

The state capitol at dusk is beautiful, don't you agree?!

Recently I also attended a forum on homelessness, and tomorrow I will attend one on immigration. All this is keeping me busy and out of trouble!

The March!

My son, daughter and I marched in the Women's March on Washington/Minnesota last Saturday. What a fun experience!! At first we all gathered in one big parking lot, then stood around for quite some time, then started marching - very slowly because of the size of the crowd. It took us an hour to walk a very short distance. Then we turned a corner and could spread out more and could see all the way to the Capitol. The crowd was enormous! I was amazed and moved! Later the St. Paul Police announced that their crowd estimate was 100,000 people!

I've been very distraught since the election, but this march restored my hope. That 100,000 people came out, spurred on by their need to resist Trump's agenda and bigotry, moved and inspired me. And coupled with the protests that took place on ALL 7 CONTINENTS, I am beyond happy and hopeful.

I am getting involved in politics in ways that I never have before. I joined a group of women who intend to be active in our resistance to hurtful legislation. We met last night - there were a couple dozen of us - and that, too has restored my hope and enthusiasm.

This is what Democracy looks like!

my son wearing his Peace flag

Jumbled Thoughts

I have had so many thoughts swirling through my head since the election on Tuesday. I feel speechless, yet I want to say something. Exactly what? That is the question.

I have heard interviews with Trump supporters. They sound so angry. They are feeling put down, angry, and brushed aside. I think that's why they voted for Trump. The irony is, they voted for the person who doesn't care about people like them. That's how I see it... why else would he refuse to pay his contractors on his many fancy buildings? The designers, the glass installers, the this and that small contractor who either went broke while trying to collect their due payment from Trump, or had to just give up and let him cheat them. Those people are YOU, Trump supporters.

I really feel like we want and need the same things. We just... I don't know ... we look at the problems from opposite directions. I heard a woman being interviewed about why she voted for Trump, and she was so angry about her health care premiums going up and up. I agree with her - her premiums are outrageous! While mine are, lucky for me, very affordable. This is totally not fair. But she, in her anger, thinks the problem stems from Obama and the Affordable Care Act. I, in my discomfort with the inequities of our health care system, see a bigger picture. Our health care system has been broken for decades.. it was all based on big corporate greed (insurance companies, pharmaceuticals, etc). A major fix was desperately needed, and Obama came in with a suggestion.. a first step. It fixed some of the problems, but not all. The solution, in my opinion, is not in dumping Obama's entire plan, but in furthering the fixes and working harder to make it fair for all, and making sure it is not predicated on big corporate profits, which will always lead to inequities and unfairness.

Another huge problem is all the reports I'm hearing and reading about people being harassed in the wake of Trump's election. Is this really the kind of America Trump supporters want?? A white man on a bus, trying to look down the shirt of a woman sitting next to him, and telling her "when Trump is president we'll get rid of all you beaners." A deaf woman using face-time on her computer in a restaurant, and a white guy yells at her, calling her a "retard" and to leave the country. On election night, a gay man beaten and bloodied by Trump supporters. A woman wearing a scarf being told "your time is up, girlie." WHAT???? REALLY????

I can hardly believe it. I see all of this as a backlash to white men losing their power and feeling afraid of the changing demographics in America. Why? What is so frightening about a diverse population? RELAX, fearful white men, and learn to get along and even love the very diversity you fear!

There is so much work to be done. How will we ever manage to achieve the freedoms and peace we hold dear?

Now What?

I am shocked and saddened. I was hoping to celebrate with this quilt-flag that I made.

Never in a million years would I have guessed that Donald Trump could even run for, much less win the presidency of the USA. I'm soooo sad. It's going to be a tough four years. Please God, don't let it be eight years.

I will have to carry on, believing in the goodness of humanity, and doing my part to do good work. Hillary quoted this Scripture, which I like. I shall try not to lose heart.

“Let us not grow weary in doing good, for in due season, we shall reap, if we do not lose heart.”

An H Block

I am getting SO excited! Very soon we may have our first woman president! I surely hope so, anyway.

I made up the pattern for this.. that is, I struggled with it 'til it worked. After that I found a link to a much easier method, at Blogging Near Philadelphia. Here it is.

I hope everyone votes! I voted a couple of weeks ago. I love that we have an early-voting option now. It's SO much easier to fit it into one's life and not have to wait in line.

Politics

I got involved in politics when I was in college. I campaigned for a local guy running for Senate, and I did a little campaign work for the presidential race in 1972. I was very idealistic then and thought everyone should agree with my political opinions. It was a shock for me when my college roommate and I were supporting the opposite sides in the presidential race. It bothered me so much that I considered moving out and/or getting a different roommate. Luckily, the election came and went just in time, and we could put aside those differences and go back to living our normal, friendly lives.

Over the years I became less idealistic. I realized there was a real world out there with complicated reasons for people to believe differently than I did.

Then, as the years piled on, politics started to make me sick. There were years in the relatively recent past, when our president at the time bothered me so much, I had to stop listening to radio and TV news just to keep my sanity.

Now it's 2016 and the world of politics in America is even worse. I can't believe how polarized and mean our politics have become. And Congress? Don't get me started! I can't stand to listen to too much of the news. Again, I find myself turning it off just to keep my sanity. I am very proud of my adult daughter who is going to be a state delegate to one of the conventions. Back in the old days I would not have predicted that she would become interested in politics. I am proud of her for taking it on and making her stand.

I have added a Hillary button to my sidebar. I am going to try hard to say very little about politics this year. When Obama was running, I got on my soap box a few too many times. This time around, you see my feelings in the sidebar, and I hope that's it. Now that I'm old, I realize that even some of my friends disagree with me. Back in those college days, when I almost abandoned my roommate, I thought all my friends had to think the same as I did.

I'm still a little bit interested in politics. After all, those who are elected have a lot to do with our daily lives, and I think it's very important to understand what is happening and keep up with the news. But not beyond the point of making one start to feel angry with the whole mess. So this time I am putting up the sidebar photo to say my piece. And that's probably all I will do (other than vote, of course).

Wherever you are, I hope you are happy and enjoying your day, and that the news and/or politics will not make you sick!

Some Thoughts on Goodwill

I just watched a clip at Facebook regarding Goodwill and the low wages they pay some of their workers, while the CEO and regional managers rake in high salaries.

First, I was not impressed with the CEO and his comments. He called his critics "elitists," a very patronizing attitude while trying to sound professional. And he spoke in gobbledy-gook without really answering some of the reporter's questions.

However, even though my experience with Goodwill is VERY limited, it has been positive: when I worked in a public school, we had training programs aligned with Goodwill. Our students would get training at Goodwill for various types of work, then they would do job try-outs. During this job trial period, they would get paid a stipend. It was very low... about $2.00/hour. BUT, it was for a limited time, and it was considered to be part of the training experience. First they would be trained, then they would be put into the job to learn hands-on; the bit of pay was considered part of their training -- how to earn paychecks, how to deposit into the bank, how absence or illness affects one's pay, etc. Because we were a non-profit, we did not have deep pockets for paying a full salary, and the stipend was an experiential learning tool.

I believe that SOME of what the reporter was looking at was a similar thing. I noticed the very low pay rates were listed as "under contract," which to me implied that they were in a training period similar to what I just described. It seems, however, that some Goodwill locations are taking advantage of this and paying skilled workers for too long at this lower pay.

Here in Minnesota I did not ever see or hear of workers being taken advantage of so blatantly. It could be happening, but I wasn't aware of it. Many of our students, after receiving training, were then hired as regular workers at a variety of places such as Target, Goodwill itself (at minimum wage or higher), and other retail locations. They also had a banking training program which led to excellent jobs in banks, a forklift training, and an auto detailing training. Every staff member I met at Goodwill was kind hearted and interested in helping people learn. The training programs were quite good and were important stepping stones for our students.

After watching the short clip on Facebook, some readers announced, "I will never donate to Goodwill again!" I don't think this is the right response. The people affected by a dip in inventory are guess who... the disabled workers you are trying to protect. Without supplies and donations, how would they keep people employed and continue to run their training programs? I agree that the CEOs (and their board of directors, if there is one) need to take a serious look at the problem, but I urge us regular folks to continue to support Goodwill (at least here in Minnesota where I think it appears to be working well). Take other steps to communicate your dislike of the low pay situation. Contact the National Federation of the Blind to see how you can jump on their bandwagon and help create change. Don't take a drastic step of hurting your local Goodwill stores which may be far removed from the problem you saw portrayed in the Facebook clip.

That's my take on the story. Remember that a reporter's story must be short and by nature leaves out a lot of the ins and outs of the real situation. What must be done is not always so clear-cut. Learn more about it before you abandon Goodwill entirely. And definitely, if a change is needed (which it appears to be, at least in some areas), work for that change while protecting the rights of the currently employed.

That's my two cents worth!

Who Made My Barbie Doll Clothes?

I am wondering if you smart readers have answers for my question.

Am I buying the services of slaves?

About a week ago, more or less, I caught an episode of Katie Couric's talk show. Her guests were discussing the problem of trafficking of girls and women (and sometimes boys). Often they are forced into a sex slave nightmare. Sometimes it is a work slave situation. For example, girls are removed from home, passports and IDs are taken, they are locked up with no access to and no contact with the outside world, and they are forced to do whatever the prisoner dictates.

I know this goes on. Sadly, the trafficking happens even in my own state. One thing the show talked about was the consumption we do and whether it encourages the existence of work slaves. Children are often forced to do labor in fields or mines, for example, and not allowed to go to school. If we buy the products of that field or mine, we are economically supporting slavery. Sadly, they said that the cosmetic industry is a big culprit.. some of the chemicals used in cosmetics are typically produced by child slaves. (There's another topic -- how to make purchases wisely so that we don't support slave labor. Where is the transparency?)

Now here is my question. Recently I started buying home-made Barbie doll clothes on e-Bay. One of the vendors I have purchased from sends me the doll clothes from China. At first I thought, "oh, how nice. I'm helping a fledgling entrepreneur in China make a cottage industry for herself." Then I began to wonder -- do these products come from a child labor/slave situation where the kids are made to work for pennies so that I can buy Barbie doll clothes on the cheap?

Some of these nice dresses go for as cheap as 99 cents. The exchange has gone very smoothly. I have purchased several of these fancy doll dresses (for various kids I know or as gifts for other kids). They come in the mail promptly and are well made and look cute on the Barbie dolls.

Is there a way I can find out -- reliably -- who is making these dresses? I don't want to support slave labor, but I do want to support someone trying to make an honest living and finding an easy way to work from home.

What do you think? What would you guess, when buying a dress for 99 cents from China? Remember it's on e-Bay where sometimes it has to go cheap so it'll sell, because of the glut of sellers... how can I research this to put my mind at ease?

Updates: All Over the Map

One thing I did after writing that last post about gun control is go to the internet and see how one of my legislators votes while he represents me in Congress. As I said, most of my political reps tend to agree with my stance on most issues. This guy? We are of different political parties, but I had not done my research on him. (We were re-districted, and he only became my rep this year, thanks to the re-drawing of lines.)

Oh, boy! Oh, boy! I was appalled. He has an A rating from the NRA in his gun-related votes and has sponsored bills with which I vehemently disagree. I guess I need to write some letters. I'm going to write real letters... not just e-mails. This guy needs to know that not everyone in his district thinks he's doing a hunky-dory job.

I find it kind of ironic that I wrote that first post on gun control, which for me felt like a surprise -- an "out of the blue" thought on my part. I mean, I did not set out to be an active gun control advocate. Now, due to more horrendous events just in the last month, I find myself being pulled into active duty, so to speak. I do not want to get involved, and yet I feel I must. A Facebook friend has issued an invitation to people in her(my) area to get together and work on gun control advocacy. I feel I must put my money where my mouth is, and join in. I don't want to. But, SOMEONE needs to get busy. So I will attempt to become politically active in an area that depresses me and feels way too huge to take on.

I hope some other people actively pursue changes in our mental health services. That is a big area of need as well. I simply can't imagine me taking on both huge areas. I will definitely support, as I can, any attempts to make mental health services MUCH more readily accessible.

In other news, Beth Howard of The World Needs More Pie is driving her little RV to Connecticut where she and other volunteers are churning out apple pies to be given out free to anyone and everyone in Newtown, CT. She worked through her own grief by making and sharing pies and feels pies are therapeutic. So.. off she went. I applaud her for jumping up and doing what she can do. I made a donation to help with her gas and supplies costs. Here is an article about what she is doing:
Pies for Newtown
She is posting regular updates at her Facebook page. A BUNCH of people in and near Connecticut are busy baking pies as we speak. It is wonderful to see everyone working together to show that we all care so much for the people of Newtown.

In the quilting world, I am continuing to make progress on a quilt which is colorful and fun. I'm really liking it. The idea came from Sunday Morning Quilts by Amanda Jean Nyberg and Cheryl Arkison. The pattern in the book is called "High Five." Mine is smaller, designed for a baby/toddler. Here's mine, as I pondered color and pattern placement on the design wall. Since then I made a few minor changes, and today I have started sewing it together. Can you say F-U-N?? I'm having FUN with this quilt! Later I will tell you where I plan to donate it.

In Friend News -- my pal, R., from Czech Republic, is a new grandma! I didn't even know a baby was on the way! She sent me this picture today.. her new granddaughter, born on Dec. 15. Isn't she just a cutie?? Now lucky R. is a Grandma. How fun! I hope she and Baby Girl get to be very close. She'll be a wonderful Grandma.

HOORAY!!

If you read this blog at all, you know I'm a Democrat. Have been a Democrat all my life. Today I am sooo happy! Obama was re-elected, and even our MN House and Senate went Democratic, plus we have a Democratic governor. Maybe we can get some good things done in the next couple of years!

What I am MOST proud of is that Minnesota defeated TWO constitutional amendment proposals: one on defining marriage and one on requiring IDs when voting. I am thrilled that we defeated both of them! I had been pretty sure that the ID amendment would pass, and I was ready to live with it, even though I didn't like it. So I was very pleasantly surprised when it was defeated! I am especially happy and proud that we defeated the proposal to amend our constitution regarding the definition of marriage. This is a wonderful statement we are making to same sex couples. Their marriage is still illegal in Minnesota, but at least it is not written in stone in our constitution. What a relief!

Next step: try to repeal that law making same sex marriage illegal. Too many people are hurt by that law.... including people I know and love.

Here's what I am enjoying so much today: the glow of having voted for winners. My husband and I have not experienced that very often over the years. We did get Obama in 2008, and that was so much fun and a historical event that we loved. But usually we have only one or two positions that we win, and our other votes did no good to elect representatives and others that we wanted. This time, almost ALL our votes went to those who won. Wow, does that ever feel good! Hubby, who is not an overly demonstrative person, was pumping his fist in the air, almost hollering: "My vote worked!!" That was cute to watch.

We stayed up until about 2:00 AM watching the election results, and then woke up at our usual early time, around 7:00 AM, got up to feed the cat and check more election results, then we both managed to get back to sleep.

We are now well-rested and happy. This afterglow feels so good. Let me just bask in this for a while before I start worrying (again) about the future of our country.

Am I as Stupid as a Fly?

You know that saying, I wish I were a fly on the wall so I could see what's happening at XYZ? If I were a fly, I would be utterly stupid and would not comprehend what was going on.

I have a skylight above my computer desk. It was chilly last night, so I closed the window. A fly was stuck between the window and the screen, so when I closed it, the fly buzzed around, trying to find a way out.

Twice I have opened the skylight to free the prisoner. The fly is so stupid that it didn't even notice and stayed "stuck" up at the top, near the hinge, as far from the opening (freedom) as possible and, still buzzing around looking for an escape. It even, believe it or not, flew down to the bottom, nearest the big opening to freedom, and still couldn't find its way out. Currently it is back up at the top, buzzing insanely. It is dooming itself to death by frantic starvation.

Sometimes I think we people are just as stupid. We don't see opportunities when they are right in front of our noses. And we keep going back to the top (the most stuck position), looking for a way out.

I don't have a particular example in mind other than the endless political shenanigans and all the junk surrounding the goings-on. I think we are all as stupid as flies this time around. I try not to let it get me down. But, I guess I am as stupid as a fly, because I keep going back to the news and hoping for a better outcome.

I hate being this stupid and cynical. Can't wait 'til the election is over!! Then I can pretend I'm smart again.

Happiness

pretty flowers in my friend's garden - she has a green thumb!

Thank you for your comments about my recent sad/stupid/naive post. I'm feeling fine now. Sometimes I get kind of down about various things: politics will do it to me in a hurry, so I try to avoid it. But it's hard to avoid it during an election year, and I do like to try to keep up with what's going on in the world, so I end up listening to news, watching news, reading news... and then I get depressed again.

As one of my readers says, it's my choice as to how much I let that stuff affect me. I need to not give it so much power. And FACEBOOK?? What a dumb place to expect normal interactions. Nope, I am not going to give Facebook that power any more.

We have had a few days in a row of gorgeous weather. I sat outside Friday evening, reading, and it was BEAUTIFUL. We ordered a pizza, it came right to me in my reading chair, and I stayed outside to eat it. Hubby joined me. Very lovely, peaceful evening.

Today at church the team who went to Rosebud Reservation gave their report. It was very uplifting. I felt very happy that it had gone so well, and I hope I will be back with them next year. I have missed two years in a row of our Rosebud trips. Time to get back on that team.

I have a few work shifts to look forward to this week, and then it will be Hubby's birthday.. a Big One this year! Party coming up soon!! That will bring more happiness. Hooray!