I Am Music

I found this poem I had jotted down on a torn piece of yellowed notebook paper while organizing my Mom's pictures and mementos of our school years.  It was such a powerful poem that it touched me now as it must have then.  I share with you.

"I am music."

I am music.
Most ancient of arts.
I am more than ancient; I am enternal.
Even before life commenced upon this earth, I was here; in the wind and the waves. 
When the first trees and flowers and grasses appeared, I was among them. 
And when man came, I at once became the most delicate, most subtle and most powerful medium of the expressing of man's emotions.

When men were little better than beasts, I influenced them for their good. 

In all ages I have inspired men with hope, kindled their love, given a voice to their joys, cheered them on to valorous deeds, and soothed them in time of despair.

I have played a great part  in the drama of life, whose purpose is the complete perfection of man's nature. 

Through my influence human nature has been uplifted, sustained and refined. 

With the aid of man I have become a "fine art."

"I am music."

- Author Unkown

My Nuclear Meltdown

After what has been happening with Japan and the nuclear crisis they are dealing with I started studying and found some interesting and in some cases disturbing facts.

Comanche Peak while applying for approval to build two more reactors has been storing all of its nuclear waste on site. What does this mean? It means if there is an accident or meltdown within one of the existing two reactors we would not only be subjected to that radiation but also all of the radioactive waste that has been being stored there for years. Scary, huh? Now, if they are to receive permission to build the two they have applied for then we are talking about 2 times the amount of waste being stored on site.

The US has 104 reactors in 31 states operated by 30 different power companies. A typical reactor produces 25-30 TONS of radioactive waste PER year! Are all of these plants storing their waste at the plant site? Yes, but never fear (unless you live here) the DOE, Dept of Energy submitted an application to the NRC, Nuclear Regulatory Commission to build a nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada.

"Low level" waste includes equipment, clothing, wiping rags, mops, etc. These items require between 10-50 years for the radiation to decay and then it is considered disposable with normal refuse.

"High level" waste which is your run of the mill uranium, plutonium is stored on site in specially designed pools similar to swimming pools. Decay time: 100-100,000 years. Yep, that was 100,000 years. Human civilization is debated as to have begun 5,000-10,000 years ago.

So, let's think this out... we have to build a containment facility or container to place underground that won't leak, won't be accidentally dug up, stolen, or damaged by natural forces (earthquakes) that will last for at LEAST 100,000 years? Can you imagine? Civilization as we know it, will be over yet "our trash" will still be deadly to all living beings.

Nuclear energy was being produced in the early 1960's and there is a technique called transmutation that processes the radioactive material and it makes it re-usable. However, The process was banned by President Carter in 1977 for fear of plutonium proliferation. When President Reagan lifted the ban in the '80's too many researchers/developers felt it was too risky, too expensive, etc. Yet, it is being explored again. Renewable radioactive waste. Hmmph?

Nuclear Energy was supposed to reduce our depency on foreign oil, bring down the cost of energy and be a more clean source of energy. I don't know about you but I paid $3.48 for a gallon of gas last week and my electric bill seems to get higher and higher. It is cleaner energy if everything is perfect. The oil spill in the gulf will have caused decades worth of damage to the ocean, environment and all the creatures that depend on it when all is said and done. Decades. If an unexpected valve doesn't shut off in a reactor...decades become centuries.

Creating and producing nuclear energy without having the fore thought to account for the deadly waste that would need to be accounted for is inexcusable. I actually read a paper that said the industry chose to store the waste onsite believing that somewhere in the future a solution would be invented. Really? ..... centuries .....

So my rant has come to an end.
Anything to add? For or Against?

Hoot!

The Magnificent Tree

Umbrella,

Jungle gym,

Low cost dwelling.

Big tree, old tree,

what stories you're telling:

"This little bird,

That little boy."

Sometimes a house,

Sometimes a toy.

Arms that reach up for the sky,

Wind through your hair, God's sweet sigh.

Hypocrisy Democracy 2

This a journal I plan on updating occasionally when I see or experience hypocrisy that annoys me. It is not meant to attack or demean anyone. These are true situations and they are my perception of them.
Entry: 2
Date: November 1, 2010
Location: TCC commons

Decided to go to campus to work on essay since trying to write anything with a cute little 4 yr old in your hair tends to get distracting and frustrating.
Sitting upstairs in a common area with 4 tables, several chairs and a couple of electrical outlets for our laptops. I had been working for about two hours and it had been relatively quiet. A couple of girls, and Joel (from my last post-small campus) sat down and began chatting while one of the girls worked on her laptop. One by one the group continually grew and at some point there was about 10 students sitting around talking. Their conversation didn't bother me, they weren't that loud and plus I had headphones and Pandora so I was good.
However, there was one young man that came up and sat down and he was particularly loud. He was obviously trying to impress the group and he kept saying nigga this, nigga that, my nigga, etc...you get my point. I sat there and listened to this mess for awhile trying to ignore him but it seemed like it was every other word. I started getting really angry and after about 20 minutes of this I finally couldn't take it anymore. I said, "excuse me, young man, that word you keep using is really offensive to me." (yes, surprising I was that polite) he looked at me with wide eyes and I could tell he was getting riled up. I then added, "my son is bi-racial and if I EVER heard someone call him that or address him that way I would be all over that person, so I would appreciate it if you wouldn't use it around me anymore." Now, I was expecting some backlash, as I said there were about 10 young people that he was sitting with...I was pleasantly surprised when none of the others said anything and a few even nodded their heads. The young man puffed up told me to "fuck off" and walked away.
I hate that word. I hate the word faggot. There are others I don't use either but you get my point. Why is okay for someone in a particular race, gender, religion, etc. to use those words and yet get angry when someone outside of that group uses it.
Using any of these kinds of words, in a joke, to describe someone or just to hurt someone is wrong. It is ignorant and if I hear you using them, yep, I'm gonna call you out on it. Be nice, it isn't hard and it makes this world much more enjoyable.
Hoot!

Hypocrisy Democracy

Entry#1
Date: September 16th 2010
Location: Club Expo @ TCC Commons

While manning my booth alone I did an awful lot of people watching. Here's the layout: African Culture Club across hall (10' away) to my left, Poetry club directly across from me, Gay Straight Alliance across and to my right. On my side of the hallway, to my left an unmanned booth and to my right a Christian Alliance club. Enjoyed a long conversation with Joel(real name withheld) from the African Culture club. Extremely nice man and he extended an invitation, stating that all should join. I found this refreshing and important as my son is bi-racial. The poetry group and I have a lot in common so we debated all day. The Gay Straight Alliance, well, should I go on? Very important to me. When I first arrived at my booth a young man was giving his testimony to James (real name withheld), the young man at the Christian Alliance booth. It was interesting and loud. Why they were speaking another young man arrived and was standing in front of my table. He was holding a rolled up poster board. He was excited about it and told the other guys that he wanted to show them a self potrait he had done of himself in his art class. He unrolled it, it was life size, and yeah, I was interested. I was peeking and eavesdropping. He had done a good job of capturing himself physically. Then in his raised left hand he had a Bible, his raised right hand he had a fist full of dollar bills, then he pointed down at the bottom of his poster and under his left foot was a person, holding a rainbow flag or ribbon. They laughed, I let it slide. It was his freedom, right? The young artist rolled up his poster and laid on my table and took a piece of candy meant for my prospective members, put the trash on the table and then sat down on the corner. I politely asked him to remove himself, his poster and his trash. He puffed up, and acted like a typical immature boy. Later, James and I were sitting each at our own booths and we struck up a conversation. It was a pleasant conversation about school, christianity, and his club. He then leaned over to me and said, I can't believe they put those booths right across from us. I asked which ones and he replied the African Culture because they are a bunch of Muslims and the Gay one. He went on to say that the "gays were recruiting" and it was horrible what they were doing and right across from his booth. I suggested that perhaps rather than "recruiting" they were extending a hand to all for peace and coexisting. Thankfully (for him) I had a possible member showing interest, so I turned back to my table. After she left I looked around. Joel from the African Culture club was down by the Gay Straight Alliance cutting up and joking around with several people. Different colors, different religions, one man was in a wheelchair and had a friend that was chatting and helping him with his books and backpack. I looked back to the Christian Alliance table. They were all white, all Christian, and all of them were staring reproachfully at the melting pot group across the hall.

My first blog. Yeah me! I wanted to have a spot where I could let it all hang out, so here it is. I was listening to the Howard Stern show the other day and former Governor Jesse Ventura (Minnesota) was on promoting his new book. First off, I am a huge Stern fan. I think he is the best interviewer of our generation. Yes, he can be vulgar at times but can't we all, who cares. Secondly, I'll be honest, I haven't given a second glance to any of the health care reform plans so shame on me for not being more literate on the subject. However, with all that said the Governor had an amazing point (actually he had several but I will only touch on one) about healthcare. He said that if government run healthcare is so bad why is it the ONLY healthcare offered to our military? If it is good enough for the men and women who serve this country with their lives why wouldn't it be good enough for civilians? His point floored me. Shouldn't our military receive the VERY BEST care available? Hell yes! So, if govt run healthcare is good enough for our military, what does that say about all the politicians, media heads, and civilians that are complaining about how terrible it will be for all of us? I'm not saying the healthcare they receive is good or bad but I have heard some negative stories about it. If that's the case then shouldn't we:
A) overhaul our military's benefits?
B) improve govt healthcare (like right now why we are debating it)
C) provide them with personalized insurance? This won't happen because our govt won't be strangled by the thieving insurance companies...hmmm, sound familar?
D) debate it, argue it, name call, demonize each side and not get anything done? (the normal way of doing things)
But I digress...
The Governor made a valid point. He also said he found it interesting that Hawaii has state run healthcare and they seem to be doing alright. Heck, he even mentioned Rush Limbaugh getting treated there when he fell ill and how he raved about the care he received. Of course, later recanting when the debate over healthcare began. Oh, and the Palin family, who has regularly gone to Canada for healthcare.
It was a great interview. I enjoyed it and it really made me think about things. Hey, I might even sift through information on the health care debate now.
HOOT HOOT!