Iraq, Iraqis "Wouldn't Exist Anymore"
copyright © 2008 Betsy L. Angert. BeThink.org
As Governor of Texas, the Presidential hopeful warned us. If we were to select him as Commander-In-Chief he would not send mixed messages. Americans might have read George W. Bush's lips. Pressure would be applied in abundance. A thousand points of light illuminated the path the then possible Chief Executive proposed. Yet, no one wished to believe a prominent person, the son of a former President of the United States could be so cruel. Certainly, a candidate to the highest office in the land would not suggest that he would be happy to start a war while he worked to win the support of American people. Yet, there it was, in the smirk, in the statement, in the glint seen in the eyes of Governor George W. Bush. The date, January 16, 2000, one year and four days before the ready and willing combatant placed his hand on the Bible and recited the Presidential Oath of Office.
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Posted by Betsy L. Angert on July 7, 2008 at 09:44 PM in 'Regime Change' , Bush 43 Administration, Elections, Iraq War, Political Campaigns, Presidential Politics | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
The Lesson; All Beings Are a Beautiful Bundle of Love
copyright © 2008 Betsy L. Angert. BeThink.org
The day was delightful. The water was superb. The sun was full and bright. A few billowy, puffy clouds floated through the sky. They were white, cumulus, fluffy fellows, the type that excite many a child as they gaze into the heavens. In parks, on lawns, little ones were likely looking up and pointing. "Look," they might say, "It is a horse, a donkey, or perchance a unicorn." It was a day for whimsy. The children, playful in the pool, barely noticed the graceful shapes as they danced above their heads. Instead, they were focused on what they decided were June bugs.
Three young sweet girls stood in the warm water near their Daddy. All were calm, content, and serene. The sisters chatted easily. Father smiled. The youngest lass expressed her curiosity. As her sibling searched for bugs on the plastic rope line, the "baby" in the family asked of the insects. "Are they icky to touch," the cautious curly haired youngster inquired. The more confident elder sister said, "No! They are cute," she said. See." The "older" child showed the girl of fewer years.
A stranger, in the adjacent lane was preparing to swim. Becky was her name. She was much older than the children, and perhaps no wiser; nonetheless, she share her assessment of the beetle. Becky said of the six-legged lovelies, "They are life; all creatures are beautiful." With that thought, the father beamed, and the older lady plunged head first into the water filled cement reservoir.
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Posted by Betsy L. Angert on July 6, 2008 at 09:00 AM in "Take me as I am!", Abuse, Adult Influence on Children, Aggression, Approval or Love, Art of Loving, Have or Be, Change the World [Within], Children, Desire to Learn, Dreams Live and Die , Education, Emotional Decisions, Emotional Intelligence, Empathy and Evolution, Family, Functioning, Fables, Life, A Forward Motion, Looking at Life, Nature or Nurture, Quality of Life, Teach The Children | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Sunscreens; Little Protection - Much Harm
copyright © 2008 Betsy L. Angert. BeThink.org
For years, Sarah felt safe as she traveled about. She shielded herself from harm. She placed her faith in science. She listened to the advice of experts. She thought she had been careful with chemicals and creams. This wise woman knew not to trust recommendations without doing a thorough examination of evidence. After an avid assessment, Sarah avowed, "Sunscreens are good." Then one day, as she entered her home after being out and about, she saw what she had never imagined. Sarah was beyond surprised; she was shocked. Her mouth agape, Sarah shrieked; "I have been burned." Not only had the solar rays she worked to avoid scorched her skin in ways she had not thought possible. The lotion may have seared parts of her body not easily seen.
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Posted by Betsy L. Angert on July 1, 2008 at 12:50 PM in Environment, Food Drug Administration, Health | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
"Two Million Minutes" or Where There is a Will
copyright © 2008 Betsy L. Angert. BeThink.org
The exceedingly successful Tennessee businessman may have shrieked with excitement when he realized all along he likely knew what would work well in American schools. "More is best." "Too much is never enough." For an Entrepreneur these adages are thought accurate. Bob Compton, founder and head of several technology and medical firms, a man with a Masters in Business Administration from Harvard knows how to tackle a problem and achieve results.
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Posted by Betsy L. Angert on June 27, 2008 at 12:00 PM in Education, Education or Economics, Education, Effects of Poverty , Emotional Intelligence | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Race Relations; Reflections, Realizations, Reactions, and Rejections
copyright © 2008 Betsy L. Angert. BeThink.org
"Nothing is more certainly written in the book of fate than that these people are to be free.
Nor is it less certain that the two races, equally free, cannot live in the same government.
Nature, habit, opinion has drawn indelible lines of distinction between them."
~ Thomas Jefferson (Autobiography, 1821)
It was a Saturday morning, late in June. The year was 2008. In the background, radio broadcaster, Scott Simon could be heard. The host of Weekend Edition offered his Reflections on Race and the Presidential Election. Alexander listened halfheartedly. It was not that he was not interested in the topic; he is and he was. Alex was distracted. The gentleman glanced over at Donna, a young Jamaican woman he knows so well. Donna's skin is as Black as pitch coal and as rich as sweet crude. She gracefully moves across the room. He thinks of how he loves the way her hips sway to and fro. Her voluptuous bosom fills the full cup of her brassiere. As she bends down to feed his ailing cousin Anna, Alex reflects on how lovely the dark skinned woman is. His sentiment is not sexual in nature. Alexander is analytical.
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Posted by Betsy L. Angert on June 26, 2008 at 01:00 PM in Americana, Being Black in America, Black History, Past/Present, Elections, Racial Discrimination | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Restricted Sorrow and Sainthood
copyright © 2008 Betsy L. Angert. BeThink.org
I stroked the chair, caressed the spirit. I cried. She was gone; yet here. Not forgotten; forever her presence would be with me. Then within a wink of an eye, seven days passed. Luke Russert appeared before me. He stood; head bowed, and touched another chair. This overstuffed piece of furniture once held the frame of his dearly departed father. While some thought the moment sweet, many expressed exasperation. They tired of the coverage. Timothy James Russert was dead. We need not canonize him. A few were critical. They wondered did cable television have nothing better to cover. A "fellow" Journalist commented, "Will somebody please e-mail me when the eulogies for Tim Russert are over?" Perhaps, tributes only end when we, the mourners pass. Possibly, memorials are personal, as are the parameters on grief.
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Posted by Betsy L. Angert on June 22, 2008 at 11:00 AM in Empathy and Evolution | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Petroleum and My Prayer
copyright © 2008 Betsy L. Angert. BeThink.org
Dearest Mister George Walker Bush . . .
This morning as I sat in what I would wish to think of as my safe little sanctuary from danger, I watched you mount the stairs and ascend into Air Force One. The television announcer spoke of your impending trip to the Midwest. As one with family in Iowa, Wisconsin, and Illinois, I was grateful for your travel. I am certain the people in these regions will be comforted by your presence. Most will feel they have reason to hope that you will offer help. I truly appreciate you "swift" response to their needs. I am gratified that you have decided to fly high above the flooded terrain, and perhaps spend a moment with an individual or two. Perchance, you will speak to my sister or my Dad.
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Posted by Betsy L. Angert on June 19, 2008 at 12:00 PM in Bush 43 Administration, Energy Enigma, Environment, Global Warming | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
2008; Unprecedented
McCain Does Not Get It That Americans Say Country Off Course
copyright © 2008 Betsy L. Angert. BeThink.org
The consensus is this election year is like no other. It is more dynamic than those in the past. The times they are a changing. Indeed, there is much to substantiate this proclamation.
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Posted by Betsy L. Angert on June 17, 2008 at 08:00 PM in Elections | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Tim Russert Physically Passes, A Legacy Left Behind
copyright © 2008 Betsy L. Angert. BeThink.org
I was in the Silver Sweetness, what most think of as a metal means for transportation. I just pulled into her little house. I was about to turn the radio off, and place the mechanical being into park. Suddenly, the broadcaster announced homage to Tim Russert would be forthcoming in the program. "Tim Russert?" I asked myself why might a story on the Journalist I saw on a television screen hours ago be the featured essay. Then, the newscaster said what I did not wish to hear, Tim Russert had passed.
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Posted by Betsy L. Angert on June 13, 2008 at 06:30 PM in Tributes | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Fight The Smears; Silence is Not Golden
copyright © 2008 Betsy L. Angert. BeThink.org
Today, change has come. Contrary to the reality that has filled centuries of history, a Presidential candidate has chosen to Fight the Smears. Barack Obama, a man whose first name is defined as my own, "blessed," has opened a door. He has unlocked a window. Thankfully, the propitious aspirant has risen above supposed ceilings. Presidential hopeful Obama has endorsed a principle that I discovered as a child. Secrets are the source of sorrow.
Barack Obama's campaign revealed a Web site this morning entitled "Fight the Smears" -- aimed at, . . . beating back misinformation, half truths or downright lies being spread about the Democratic nominee via television, the Web, radio and, most pervasively, e-mail."The Obama campaign isn't going to let dishonest smears spread across the Internet unanswered," explained campaign spokesman Tommy Vietor.
Intentional slander causes great pain. Individuals who malign advance untold misery. Only the truth can set any of us free. However, few wish to speak of what they know. Most repeat the proverb, "Ignorance is bliss." Yet, in life, we may realize, when we are quiet, gospel is often fleeting.
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Posted by Betsy L. Angert on June 12, 2008 at 07:01 PM in Approval or Love, Compassion, Conflict, Complex, Elections, Emotional Intelligence, Empathy and Evolution, Lies, Life, A Forward Motion, Light. Darkness., Looking at Life | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
Impeachment, "Off the Table" and On the House Floor
Kucinich Impeachment Articles mention RAW STORY
copyright © 2008 Betsy L. Angert. BeThink.org
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi may say impeachment is off the table; nonetheless, on June 9, 2008, Congressman Dennis Kucinich placed it on the floor. For five hours, the Ohio Representative stood before his colleagues and an expectant national audience. Kucinich spoke of what has remained unmentionable for far too long. The President of the United States of America has committed high crimes and misdemeanors.
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Posted by Betsy L. Angert on June 9, 2008 at 11:36 PM in Bush 43 Administration, Congress, Congress and Bush, Impeach GW Bush, Iraq War, Richard [Dick] Cheney, Vice President | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Let Them Eat Oil
copyright © 2008 Betsy L. Angert. BeThink.org
In a nation, where appeasement is condemned, Americans are anxious. The people have been pacified for so long they can no longer recall what it means to be other than indulged. On June 6, 2008, Congresspersons, uncomfortable with the notion that they might have to use the rod, concluded, for now, it is better to spoil the already pampered Americans. Lawmakers said, as they have so often, "Let them eat oil!" After all, the people love petroleum.
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Posted by Betsy L. Angert on June 8, 2008 at 11:00 AM in Americana, Congress and Bush, Consumption and Conservation, Environment, Global Warming, Nature, Nature or Nurture, Oil, Oil Companies , Politics, Powerful Polluters, Price of Petroleum | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Hurricane John Rips Through Florida; McCain Catastrophe Seeks Funds
copyright © 2008 Betsy L. Angert. BeThink.org
Presidential aspirant John McCain is in Florida this week. Five days into the hurricane season that typically haunts this South Eastern State, Senator McCain, grapples with his own disaster. The Arizona Senator, proud of his opposition to a proposed National Catastrophe Fund, needs dollars to restore order to his political house. Hence, the Arizona Senator has come to the Sunshine State to catch some rays, or more accurately to raise the necessary green.
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Posted by Betsy L. Angert on June 5, 2008 at 01:00 PM in Elections | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Misogyny; Women We Love or Hate
copyright © 2008 Betsy L. Angert. BeThink.org
There are many wondrous women. Females are loved and lovely. The face of the "fairer sex" is photographed, fondled, treasured, and cherished. The being that brings life to us all is beloved and beautiful. I am a woman. As such, the idea of misogyny infuriates me.
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Posted by Betsy L. Angert on June 3, 2008 at 09:00 AM in Americana, Income Inequity, Looking at Life, Reality or Perception, Women | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Clinton Calculations; The New Math and The Popular Candidate
copyright © 2008 Betsy L. Angert. BeThink.org
Monday, June 2, 2008
Dearest Senator Clinton . . .
As much as I would wish to congratulate you on your win in Puerto Rico, I cannot. I offer my condolences. I trust that you hoped for a substantial victory