Why Would Someone Vandalize The Lincoln Monument.?

The Lincoln Memorial in D.C. was vandalized last night. The U.S. Park Service will hold a presser shortly. http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57595627/lincoln-memorial-vandalized/

There is always some senseless graffiti painted on bridge abutments or along rock walls but a national monument. It wasn't even an artistic expression it was just splattered paint to make a beautiful  place look flawed. Basically, an act of violence against something that is cherished by many of us.

I can't speak for the majority but Mr. Lincoln is my favorite president. I have read many different books about the man and everyone seems in agreement, he was a man before his time. A thinking man that valued human life and equality regardless of skin color or occupation. He felt each person should have the opportunity to do their best to create a better world for us all. I really believe Gandhi and Mr. Lincoln would have a lot in common, especially being the change you want this world to be.

Just venting

If you are in the military and have flown a plane, which clearly you have because you cannot just hop in a plane and go for a joy ride would you not know how much fuel you have on board. I am so aggravated with the lack of concern that the Navy shows the ocean.
Did you see they were doing bomb training missions off the coast line of Canberra Australia? Yes, if that wasn't bad enough the bombs were dropped in the Great Barrier Reef which is a protected marine life area because the stupidity continued.

Why were they that close to the Australia's coastline and the Barrier Reef in the first place? I am appalled at the blank stupidity. These joint training sessions with the Australian military should have had someone with brains clearly keeping track of their location. I know they are saying they are not detonated but they do have weigh something and the coral is very fragile. The coral already struggles with all the waste that is dumped in the ocean and does not survive with physical content. So why would you think a bomb wouldn't do damage.?

"Australian Sen. Larissa Waters, the influential Greens party's spokeswoman on the Great Barrier Reef, described the dumping of bombs in such an environmentally sensitive area as "outrageous" and said it should not be allowed.

"Have we gone completely mad?" she told Australian Broadcasting Corp. "Is this how we look after our World Heritage area now? Letting a foreign power drop bombs on it?"

Graeme Dunstan, who is among the environmentalists and anti-war activists demonstrating against the joint exercises, said the mishap proved that the U.S. military could not be trusted to protect the environment.

"How can they protect the environment and bomb the reef at the same time? Get real," Dunstan said from the Queensland coastal town of Yeppoon, near where the war games are taking place.

The Great Barrier Reef, the world's largest network of coral structures, is rich in marine life and stretches more than 1,800 miles along Australia's northeast coast."

Dunstan raises a darn good question about our military and not protecting the environment. Do they know what other appalling things that Navy's from all over the world actually do. The U.S. is not alone in the disposal process, it is common practice worldwide.


My son is in the Navy and he tells me that once they are two miles out they dump all bodily and food waste in the water. Really, makes me want to swim in the ocean or eat anything that comes from it.

We are no longer in the dark ages, we do have the technology to take our waste to waste treatment facility and convert it into useable water. The ships create their drinking water from the ocean so there is no reason why they could not convert the waste as well. But it is not done, it is just dumped body and paper waste as is.

Clearly, All of the world's military has not seen the memo on becoming green and environmentally strong. The U.S. Navy thought nothing of dumping bombs on to the Barrier Reef. Nor do they think anything of how the waste is disposed.

I hope you didn't have fish tonight.

Childhood Idols that helped me grow to be a better person.

Have you ever thought about your childhood idols, who they were and why? Do you still see them the same as you did then?

The people I idolized growing up were from very different lifestyles but each contributed in their own way to our country.

I was in awe of Martin Luther King, his speeches were so compelling and thought provoking even to a young eight year old white girl. I really didn't understand why racism existed. I tried to see what difference it made where people sat, or ate. I couldn't think of a legitimate reason. It was really a confusing time to live. When I asked people would say because they are black that's why? What kind of reasoning is that? Unfortunately, that was a normal answer. If you pushed they would say because they don't have the same brains as white people do and need to be treated differently for their own good. Why, got me in to trouble quite often. But I still had to know and the only one who seemed to have those answers was a man they said should be tarred and feathered, or silenced forever. James Earl Ray did just that. What he never expected, or the others like him, that Martin may not be speaking those words himself but others would and still do. His speech I Have A Dream standing before Lincoln's monument, the man that opened the door for African-Americans to share in our prosperity and whose life was also ended because he saw a future for equality will never be words on a paper stuck in a drawer but will be the light of the future ahead.

Another person I thought was important was Eleanor Roosevelt. She was outspoken for a woman in her time about racial issues. She was inspired by her teacher at a private school in England. She was a very independent thinker and that is what encouraged the attraction between her and Franklin. They loved writing and discussing issues of the time. She was the driving force behind his political career even though she was dubbed the reluctant first lady.

It wasn't that she was unhappy being the first lady, she was unhappy with the role previous first ladies had assumed. She was not going to be a silent mouse in the background. She was used to speaking at conventions, holding her own press conferences and being active in society. Why should that change because her husband became President.

Eleanor was a very vital piece in Franklin's attempt to end segregation. The early days of the Civil Right movement were not easy because the south held a firm stronghold on the congress and senate and Franklin really did try to walk a thin line. Eleanor actively campaigned against the New Deal saying it was not treating the African American fairly with distribution of money. She campaigned that all relief be distributed equally regardless of race to all Americans.

She was the first lady to invite over a hundred African Americans to the White House because a famous black singer Marian Anderson could not perform at Washington's Constitution Hall. This decision was made by the Daughters of the Revolution.. I loved how she persistently charged ahead in spite of the opposition. She resigned from the Daughters of the Revolutions in protest and then helped organize another concert on the steps of Lincoln's monument. How could you not love a woman who took challenges head on. That is what I wanted to be like, strong and determined regardless of the obstacles in my path.

After her role as first lady, she was appointed to be the Chairperson to the United Nations Human Rights Commission.

There are so many different stories about her being involved with this person or that one, even linking her to a woman named Missy Lehand just made her all the more fascinating to me. Some speculated she was gay, others said she was bi-sexual. The rumors flew like wildfire, she was always linked with someone. Yet, she did not care what people thought. She faced her critics and continued with her mission at hand.

I just couldn't read enough about her, she seemed like everything I wanted to be except the first Lady. I wasn't interested in most of politics only in equality for all. I wanted the world to be more than it was just like Eleanor and Martin did without someone looking to see what your skin color was.

I wish I could tell you what happened to that girl with such high ideals, and expectations of those around her. All I know for sure is my life did not go in the directions I dreamed but my idols of my youth have not lost their glitter and sparkle in my eyes.

I try everyday to live up to those same ideals. I think it so important that we never lose sight of the fact that we are all in this together. It is not your world, my world but our world and we must work together to make it better for all of our children.

Road Trip Adventure

Craziest Car Adventure

If your spouse ever asks you to take a last minute weekend road trip excursion? Do it.

We had so much fun this past weekend, riding, sight seeing and just spending time talking with each other. When you are in a relationship sometimes those special moments get lost with all the things happening around you.

We threw some clothes and toiletry items in suitcase and off we went around mid day on Friday. My darling spouse had looked online for several places to stay and found lots of choices. He used our Hilton points for the reservation at Embassy Suites in Niagara Falls in Ontario. Embassy Suites is one of the hotels that claim they have the most amazing view of the falls.

Now, from where we live it was a seven hour drive including going thru customs. It was early evening so we dined first and them went to see the falls and the firework display that we were told about when we checked in. Every Friday and Sunday evening in addition to holidays are a firework display.

Dinner at the Keg was delicious and the service was amazing. I have a serious iodine allergy and they were very attentive. Unlike in the United States they do use iodine in their sterilizing process so all of my dishes, glasses and utensils were washed separately without iodine. The cook prepared my steak without the usual salt coating they normally use and it was delicious. The amazing part to me was how quickly everything was done and we did not have any additional wait time. The view was beyond incredible.

I have to admit the walk down the steep incline was challenging for me because I do have balance issues left over from an injury several years ago. I was lucky to have had my Botox injection on Monday of this week or I wouldn't have been able to do the trip at all with my migraines like they are. I wish I could say the Botox makes them go away forever but that is not the case. They are done every three months and the first three weeks I have very minimal headaches, by the sixth week point they are steady and limit my activities. The last six weeks I am taking medication everyday and doing very little daily activities like vacuuming, dusting or even watching television. It is just to painful for me to move my head up and down or to follow motion. This time, when I reach the six week point I am going to have a nerve block to help me with the pain.

Sorry, I went off track there, we walked down, that is my husband and me to see the falls. The falls have such pretty lighting in purple and blues. Then to our surprise at nine o'clock the firework display began. Absolutely stunning display over the water, made the walk well worth doing even knowing we had an equally long walk back up the steep incline.

It was a full moon and a cool forty degree night but once you saw the view and the display you were totally absorbed and did not notice the temperature. You were just awe struck with the magnificent colors that my camera truly did not do justice too.

 

Looking over at the falls under a full moon sky.

                          My favorite pictures of the firework display that lasted a half hour.

 

 

I was far enough back from where they launched the fireworks and the sound of the water I did not have any issues with my head. Thank God and Dr. Silberstein for the Botox. Two years ago I tried to watch a firework and became violently ill because the pain level spiked so quickly.

 

The evening was perfect. Tomorrow I will share pictures of the day light view and Butterfly Conservatory. Can you imagine seeing two thousand butterflies all in one place? It is beyond your wildest dream.