Bail out..

Well, our lawmakers cannot decide what to do to help our economy. They don't know whether to listen to the lawmakers, their constituents or the economist. Trust is at an all time low. They don't know who to trust. Neither do we.

Some hold the opinion, we should do nothing and let the market correct itself. Some think that the government must do something or else. I have no idea. I just know that we are probably in for a major correction in everything... how we spend and save and plan. We have been through them before and we will go through them again. Hopefully, this will help our children. Hopefully, it will help us.

Civility

I was at a legal seminar last week. We spent a great deal of time talking about substantive legal topics. We also talk about ethics. We have a duty to advocate but also to be professional. As a family lawyer, we often affect our clients lives by how we advise them on matters outside of the legal process. When we treat their attorney or opposing counsel badly, we set the tone. Of course, since they are hurting and often hate the other person, they want us to fight for them... specifically, in their place. They want us to do what they wish they had the power to do. Unfortunately, we often have to fight they way they should fight. And often they need to simply stop the fight. As the speaker said, bad behavior is contagious. All around us, we see a loss of civility. All around us people fight for themselves and not each other. The speaker noted that good behavior could be contagious too. I hope so. And I hope that I can bring that into my everyday process.

Gas Prices

I ran out of gas in the usual way on Friday. I had driven a good bit and wasn't thinking about a run on stations. I wanted to stop on my way home, but I couldn't find a station. I did fill up on Saturday but as I drive there are many stations out of gasoline. I wonder what the emergency vehicles will do. I know that they need gas. We are all trying to be a little more careful. Drive less. Hopefully a reduced demand will make it more available and more reasonably priced. It must be impossible for people with low incomes to fight against this.
I plan to be more careful in my driving and not go places if i don't have too.

Foot Rubs and Wine

It really doesn't take as much to satisfy me as people might think. I am not obsessed with expensive clothes or jewelry. What I really love is a good foot rub and a glass of my favorite wine. Give me a night with Nightly News, AC360 and I am pretty relaxed. When I get a foot rub, I am as happy as can be.
As to my husband, he loves a back scratch. My son loves Discovery Channel. My daughter, lives for her text messages.
Mostly, I love it when we all sit down together and have dinner. They barely care what we eat. But having the time to talk about what is on our mind or who is winning Cash Cab is a blast.
Being grateful for the little things that most people long for is important. Since I deal with people all day who are loosing their families, you have to feel blessed to enjoy the small things. I just hope the rest of my family understands how much the little things mean. I sure would miss my foot rubs.

Life outside of politics and political coverage

Ok, I am not a fan of Palin's politics. I am not always in support of any one's platform. I have always found it interesting that the party of less government wants to intrude in the most private personal issues in our lives... who we marry, whether we give birth or practice contraception, whether we pray in school ect. The difference between the parties and government in our lives comes down to money. Both parties think government needs to tell us what to do and how to spend. It is a matter of who each party is willing to spend the money on.
I am registered independent because I don't have a party ideology. Most people don't. We fluctuate between candidates and issues based on our personal experiences. Does anyone really want to go to war? And frankly, has any modern war been about ideology? No. All wars are about power, money and influence... mostly economic influence. The civil war was not about slaves. That was a side issue that rallied people. The World War II was not about Hitler and genocide. most people didn't know what was going on until he was loosing. And Iraq is not about terrorism. It has and will always be about power in an area which dominates oil. At this point, I think the American people know, we can pull our of Iraq.... and wait until we go to war with Iran... or Korea.... or Russia or God forbid, China.

But will oil, the environment, weak dollar, a sagging economy and job market, what do the news papers and news shows investigate? Sarah Palin's religion...Her daughter's pregnancy.. Her ex brother in law's boss. Good Lord.

At the beginning of this season, everyone thought immigration and the war would be the topics. What is clear is that neither of them will execute an agenda. What they will face has yet to be determined in large part. What we need to know is what guides them? Where do they look for answers? How quickly do they make decisions? Can they stand by a decision? Can they make a hard choice regardless of political consequences. Right now, the tide is turning. What we are seeing is Obama is a political machine. He has shown less heart and less soul monthly. McCain has shown he will make the unpopular decision if it feels right. And he will defend it. Obama is showing his lack of experience. McCain is actually talking about what people are talking about. Obama is still playing defense about his resume.

Talking Heads

You just have to watch this.


http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=184086&title=sarah-palin-gender-card

Storms

Well, my brother had his AC unit flooded out in recent rains. As I watched the coverage this week, I was struck how many of the areas only finished rebuilding due to the Katrina. It is amazing how we spend and spend and keep building in areas that are always going to be in the path of nature. It seems that perhaps we should have more respect.

My brother used to live in a 100 year flood plain. Now because the city build and builds, there is nowhere for hte run off and his home has had the yard and A flood twice in six years. Now we have more rain His AC will be fixed this week but what about next week?

People and cities need to plan better when they build. It is sad to see people flooded out. What bothers me is when they live at waters edge. The water will come.

Teen Pregnancy

OK, so the vice presidential candidate for the party of family values has a teenage daughter who is pregnant. She will keep the baby and marry the father. She is a walking example of why abstinence does not work as a message. This young girl got the message from her family, her church, her community and her school. And she still did not listen. Her Mother was the Governor and she did not listen. She had sex, without protection, with her boyfriend.
So why don't we start making sure that people understand that sex without protection creates life long issues. Start understanding that they will have sex. As people get married later and later, they will have sex before marriage.
I need to take the opportunity to make sure my daughter understands the implications. She will be 14. We need her to take care of herself. Teach her self reliance. The babysitting will help. She hates screaming babies. Understanding what is hard about children will help her understand you have to want it. You have to be willing to set everything aside whether you want to or not.
I hope I can help her see that safe sex or no sex is part of taking care of herself. Motherhood isn't for sissies. Kids who want to watch You tube, download i-tunes, carry Coach purses and wear Abercrombie shouldn't play with sex.
And politicians shouldn't play with our children's lives. It is serious. Palin might have considered making her child a poster child for unprotected sex. Why in the word did this Mother put her child knowingly into the spot light nationally for this debate. It is enough when children of political or high profile people have to deal with their personal issues and mistakes in the spot light. DUI, underage drinking, speeding ect. She chose knowing about the issue. How are they going to help this child through at a time when her time will belong to the people of this country if she wins.

It is reason enough for me not to vote for her.