Who owns the USA?

Here's a quick and fascinating breakdown by total amount held and percentage of total U.S. debt, according to Business Insider:

• Hong Kong: $121.9 billion (0.9 percent)
• Caribbean banking centers: $148.3 (1 percent)
• Taiwan: $153.4 billion (1.1 percent)
• Brazil: $211.4 billion (1.5 percent)
• Oil exporting countries: $229.8 billion (1.6 percent)
• Mutual funds: $300.5 billion (2 percent)
• Commercial banks: $301.8 billion (2.1 percent)
• State, local and federal retirement funds: $320.9 billion (2.2 percent)
• Money market mutual funds: $337.7 billion (2.4 percent)
• United Kingdom: $346.5 billion (2.4 percent)
• Private pension funds: $504.7 billion (3.5 percent)
• State and local governments: $506.1 billion (3.5 percent)
• Japan: $912.4 billion (6.4 percent)
• U.S. households: $959.4 billion (6.6 percent)
• China: $1.16 trillion (8 percent)
• The U.S. Treasury: $1.63 trillion (11.3 percent)
• Social Security trust fund: $2.67 trillion (19 percent)

The National Budget Crisis Solved

The National Budget Crisis Solved

I just don’t understand the thinking when it comes to the National Budget. I think that if you gave the budget to 10 housewives, complete with a breakdown of every penny budgeted, just a shopping list type breakdown, they could balance the budget in a week without cutting Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security nor the Military or education.

Any working family today knows what it takes to make your budget, and what it means to cut back.  You don’t cut back or don’t pay your mortgage or rent.  You don’t cut back or don’t pay your health insurance.  Yes, it may be considered a luxury, but you have to have it.

A normal, working class family’s austerity plan includes:

·         Cutting the grocery bill

Ø  buying store brand groceries,

Ø  eating cheaper cuts of meat,

Ø  more casseroles, and

Ø  taking your lunch to work

·         Cutting the electricity bill

Ø  Turning the thermostat up, closing blinds and curtains

Ø  Turning off lights

Ø  Unplugging unnecessary appliances such as unused tv’s, vcr’s and cable boxes

·         Adjusting the car insurance, maybe increasing the deductible

·         Cut the family’s gasoline costs by staying home or taking public transportation when possible

·         No more extra classes such as ballet, music or ceramics

·         Limit eating out

·         No more vacations and absolutely unnecessary trips, and

·         Limit luxuries

And so forth.

The US Government, the President and Legislature, are cutting the important things.  Benjamin Franklin said, “A penny saved is a penny earned.” 

·         We save pennies by cutting pork barrel items.  

·         We stop funding research and studies. Yes, I know it’s controversial.  But the private sector will step up. 

·         We stop paying $1000 for a screwdriver we can buy at Home Depot for $20.

·         No more traveling to other countries for “diplomatic reasons.”  We aren’t dating. We are adults.  Other countries will understand, and if they don’t – tough.

·         No more diplomatic dinners.  My gosh, the invitations alone probably cost more than the average family makes in a year.  That doesn’t even count the food, the flowers, the wait staff and the security.  A visiting dignitary will have to just understand that we are tightening our national belt.  Twenty guests work just as well, if not better than, as 2,000 or even 200!

·         No more free lunch for the legislators.  We have to pay for our meals. They should, too!

·         No more running to the rescue of every Tom, Dick or Sally that cries foul.  We can’t save them if we can’t save ourselves!

·         No more owing money to other countries, like China (OMG! WE OWE CHINA MONEY?????????!)

·         No more acting like we have more money to spend than we do.

 We stop all of the non-essentials until we get back on our feet.

We won’t have to raise taxes or cut paying our MAJOR obligations – the Military, who deserve more respect than we give them, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and Education. (Yes, education.  An educated work force earns more and eventually pays more in taxes.)

We can live within our means, if we actually try.  Just ask a million moms across America.  If we can do it, so can the U.S. Government.

Obesity as abuse? Or are we just repeating societal abuse?

Researchers from Harvard University say that parents of obese children are guilty of abuse and neglect.  They firmly believe that the children should be removed from their homes put into state care and “managed” properly.   Are they that far removed from society to believe this malarkey? Do they not understand the times we live in, the difficulties of parenting or of being a child today. Do they not remember their history? 

The majority of today’s parents are both working outside of the home. Children over the age of 10 are generally left at home under the care of a teenager or by themselves.  Either way, they are not able to go outside to play as children of previous generations were.  They aren’t working the farm, or tending the animals.  Today’s children are stuck in their homes for hours each day. This is not from parental neglect or abuse.

 It costs a lot just to make ends meet.  Most families cannot afford day camps, summer schools and activities for their children. When an affordable alternative is available, it does not last until the work day is over.  No employer will tolerate Mom or Dad coming in late or leaving early to drop off or pick up Junior every day for a week, a month or a summer.  

Today’s children cannot go out to play, roam the neighborhood, ride a bike, or walk to the park or pool.  It’s just not safe. Just ask Jaycee Duggard or any of the millions of children who have been stolen off of the streets, schools and parks.  For their own safety, children are relegated to their homes behind locked doors.

Unattended children do not have someone to tell them they can’t eat the entire bag of chips or cookies.  They don’t have Mom or Dad to tell them to turn off the television. They don’t have someone at home to encourage them to play.  They are not being ignored nor mistreated.  Mom and Dad most likely are calling and doing what they can, but that’s just it, they are doing all they can.  And, Junior is still at home eating everything in the pantry out of boredom.

In poor families, food takes on a skewed importance.  Money for food is hard to come by.  Food, let’s face it, is terrifically expensive.  Healthy food is even more costly.  Unhealthy and fattening foods are cheap and readily available.  Yes, there are programs such as WIC (Women, Infants & Children) but they stop at age 5.  Food pantries are available, as well.  However, fresh fruits and vegetables are hard to come by.   School free lunches are only available on school days and not the weekends or summer.  We also know that when a body is starved, or thinks it is starved, the body stores as much fat as it can to survive.  So, these poor children are hit with a double whammy – unhealthy food and an irregular food supply.

Obese parents are at a disadvantage.  They can have poor eating habits, through ignorance or circumstances, and / or poor self-esteem which they teach their children through example.  If a parent does not know how to cook wholesome, healthy food their children will not learn to make good food choices.  If a parent makes poor choices in their food, their children will learn to think that is normal. It’s not from neglect or abuse, but just life.

Taking children from their parents because society thinks it knows better only causes more harm to the child, the family, the community and society.  Between 1870 and 1930, over 100,000 Native America children were forcibly removed from their homes and placed in government mandated schools and missions.  They were punished for speaking their native languages and forced to learn English ways and Christianity.  While this was done in the name of “good” and “benefitting the children” it was clearly abusive and clearly wrong. The effects to the children, the culture and communities are still apparent today.  Rampant alcoholism, disconnection from society and self, violence and abuse are the results of the National Indian Child Welfare Act.

Legislating and mandating a behavior never works.  Governmental interference and mandates are major steps into socialism.  We cannot provide mandatory jobs, mandatory child care, mandatory food supplies to everyone with everyone getting an equal share.  We cannot give up our rights to work, play, live, marry and have children as we wish even if that means some children are obese.  

We can give each other helping hands.  We can work with each other to lighten the loads.  Take turns taking the kids to parks or to the pools. We can plant community gardens where families and communities can enjoy the evenings working and laughing together as they grow not only healthy vegetables, but healthy communities of friendships.  We can walk together, play pick-up games, laugh and grow. We can donate food and time to community pantries.  We can fight obesity in adults and children by friendship, understanding and sharing good food.

United we stand. Divided we fall.  It’s not just about fighting a revolutionary war, but in everyday life. Staying together as families and communities makes us all stronger.

Is it me or do they not understand?

I am allergic to peanuts, in any form.  The smell even makes me start wheezing, my eyes swell and my skin crawl. Physical contact or eating peanut products can kill me in as little as 20 minutes. It really limits what I do, where I go and where I eat.  If you watch or read the news, you have probably heard about the children with peanut allergies. It's not just children. There are adults with peanut allergies, too. People say it’s overkill to limit peanuts and peanut butter in schools and  workplaces for one allergic person. It’s not.  Saying that tells me that you think my life is worth less.

When people handle peanuts or peanut products and then handle something else, they contaminate it.  Subway, for instance,  uses one set of tongs, one set of baking pans for all of their cookies.  If they use them on peanut butter cookies and then touch another cookie that I happen to eat, I would have an allergic reaction as though I had taken a bite of the peanut butter cookie.  In the workplace, in public, If someone handles peanuts or peanut butter, then touches say the door knob to the ladies room and  I touch it, I could have a reaction to the peanut traces they left behind.   It’s not just the bathroom door, it’s the copier lid, it’s the pen handed to me to write something down, it’s the chair arm or table top in the conference room.   They are all potentially lethal to me.

We go to so much trouble to install bathrooms and ramps for the handicapped.  There are handicapped parking spaces .  There are so many accommodations for the disabled, but not for those who are allergic like I am. Yes, peanut allergies does fall under the American’s with Disability Act.   However, I have been and worked many places where “the needs of the many “ – being able to eat peanut butter or peanuts around me or not washing their hands afterwards – “outweighs the needs of the few.”   It’s unacceptable to discriminate against a disability such as needing a wheelchair or a speech impediment, or any one of a million other things, but perfectly fine to discriminate against those of us with peanut allergy disabilities.

Misspellings & Misgivings

Self-identity is such a hot topic right now.  Each of us is an individual, separate and different from everyone and everything else. We all want to be recognized, accepted and respected.  Part of that is getting someone’s name right.  Calling someone by the wrong name is, simply put, insulting.  It shows that we don’t care enough about the person to remember their name.  It is a passive aggressive slap in the face.

So is misspelling people’s names.

Letters and notes, I understand sometimes. Writing something by hand is a lost art. However, there is not an excuse in the world to misspell a greeting on an e-mail. The recipient’s name is at the top of email in the “to” section!   Incorrect spelling, in this case, is either a case of laziness or a major slap in the face.  Oy! You don’t matter enough for me to take the 1/100^th of a second it would take to look up a few lines to spell your name correctly.  

My name, Terri Gray, is a rather simple one. Nine times out of ten, people misspell one or both.  As I said, it’s simple.  1) I am a girl and girls generally spell Terri with an i or an ie.  2) Gray with an A, as in the color.  GrEy is a colour in England. We aren’t in England. Our ancestors fought and died for us to spell it with an A and not an E.  When we think of the civil war, we don’t write it “the blue and the grey”. It’s “the blue and the gray.”  It’s written as grAy on Crayola crayons for crying out loud.  And finally, 3) It’s not like my name is Truewilllaughinglifebuckyboomermanifestdestiny, a real first name by the way, nor anything exotic or with a lot of consonants shoved together. 

Names are important.  Verbal and written acknowledgement of someone’s individuality is paramount. Using the correct name, and spelling, not only acknowledges them, shows respect and acceptance, it is a kindness.  The correct name usage will let them know that you are a respectful person and make them feel good about themselves all in one tiny action.

Food! Glorious Food! Not!

When I was a child, I never had to decide what to eat.  It was decided for me.  My mother cooked breakfast and dinner and packed my lunch.  I just showed up and something wonderful was ready for me to enjoy.  No decisions. No cooking. Just wonderful food to enjoy.  Now that I am the mom and have been “the mom” for well over half of my life, I am sick of food.  I have to decide what’s for breakfast, lunch and dinner for my family.  Even if it’s just lunch for me, I still have to decide.   I miss the good old days.

I have food allergies.  This means, I have to really think about what I am going to eat and where I will eat it. I have to read ingredient labels every time as the manufacturers are always changing what they use.  Since my dinners are all based on each other, I can have a complete shopping list go askew due to one little change in one ingredient. 

And, let’s face it - food can be a chore. You have to plan the meal, write out a shopping list, buy the ingredients, wash, chop, cut, slice, dice, sauté, simmer, bake, poach or fry everything, serve it, store leftovers, and then clean the dishes, pots, pans, table, counters, stove, blenders, mixers, cutting boards and so forth. Everything is done just as one of the kids comes in and wants a snack. 

Breakfast is easier.  I buy several cereals, frozen waffles, frozen pancakes, bagels and fruit.  The kids are teenagers and can fix their own breakfasts.  The clean-up for breakfast isn’t too bad.

Lunchtime, ah - there is the breeze!  I give the kids money for lunch at school and they figure that out.  I know I didn’t appreciate my mother when I was a kid.  Since I had food allergies and teachers of my time were notorious for making children eat everything on their plates, my mother had to pack my lunch every day.  I always had either tuna salad or pimento and cheese sandwiches.   Every morning, Mama fixed us toast and packed my lunch.   I never gave it any thought until I became a mother myself.

Dinner is more hectic now than ever.  I work full time, I go to school half-time, I babysit the grandbaby two evenings each week, and we still have 2 children at home.  My husband travels 50 weeks out of every year.  We have the world’s messiest teenage human garbage disposals at home.  I call them the Yeti.  If I have time to cook, it’s generally something uninspired that I grabbed at the store as I rushed home.    I have found that the amount of time I spend planning menus and grocery shopping is in direct proportion to the amount of food the yeti eat before I get a chance to cook it.   Just this past weekend, as I knew I would be rushed for time, I bought 2 packages of pre-cooked chicken to throw into a casserole.  I put everything together, opened the fridge to get the chicken only to discover that it had been eaten.  

The kitchen is always, always, always messy no matter what my husband and I do.  I used to complain, well, honestly - explode - about the constant mess in the kitchen.  Now that my sweet hubby is helping so much with the kitchen and house when he’s home on the weekends, he has complete understanding of my kitchen melt-downs.

Last year, I was so happy to have a new glass top stove.  It was the final piece of the kitchen appliances to be replaced. Everything matched and was relatively new. The kitchen was freshly painted.  I had my dream kitchen.  The older yeti didn’t want to have to wash a pan, or to have me yell at him to wash it, so he decided to cook on a piece of foil.  Yep, you guessed it, the foil melted onto the cook top, ruining it, and catching the foil and his food on fire, which he then dropped onto the floor which burned holes in the flooring.  We call that “the incident.”  Not much later, the same yeti ran through the house, tripped on a cat and planted his face into the side of the kitchen island.  He was fine.  The island was not.

The yetis have friends over as yetis do.  They sit at the kitchen table, eating and playing games or on their laptops. Because of the proximity of the kitchen, they occasionally cook.  I have come home from work or school to find that a swarm of Yeti has been, decorating the kitchen, cabinets, floors and walls with their attempts. Dishes, pots and pans litter the counters and table. Trash cans are overturned.  The refrigerator and dishwasher doors are hanging open. Yet, neither one single piece of food nor one single Yeti is to be found.

Eating out isn’t any easier.  I am limited on where I eat.  So, it seems that we eat at the same places time after time.  Kids love the golden arches.  If I eat there one more time, I think I will turn into a French fry!  On school nights, I get fast food and drop it off at home on my way to school.  The yeti and I are getting pretty tired of fast food.  But, with their schedules,(and the mess they make!) they don’t have time to cook either.

Weekends are about the only time we have to spend with the Hubster.  I won’t spend an entire day cooking for the week as this time is too precious.  Besides, the Yeti will eat all the food before I get a chance to serve it.

I long for the days when my mother planned and cooked the meals or when I was a full time, stay at home mom cooking all day and the Yeti were too little to wreak their food destruction.  Food was an adventure, a comfort and even a bit of an art. Food was enjoyable.

Why?

In the scheme of the universe,  our Earth is very small and fragile. Everyone on this planet are travelers together. We are traveling  through this vast, dangerous wilderness.  Natural disasters, errant asteroids, failure of the sun are just some of the dangers we face.  Like it or not, it's a journey we are all on together. All of us.   All races. All religions.  All countries.  Young and old.  

So, why do we fight?  Why are we rude to each other?  Why do we treat each other horribly?  War, genocide, rapes, jihads, forced beliefs, forced religion, slavery.  We are all citizens of Earth.  We are all family.  All of us eat, breathe, laugh, cry, love and hope.

United we stand.

Divided we fall.

Hatred diminishes us.

Caring, kindness and courtesy  and consideration makes us all better.

Violence against Children

Childhood should be a time of joy, love and innocence. It rarely is, however. Violence against children pervades societies throughout the world. It can take so many forms - abuse, labor, slavery, marriage, molestation, forced into conflicts and sex trade and so much more. Why do we tolerate this? Yes, it really is that bad.

According to UNICEF:

• ~158 MILLION children worldwide are engaged in child labor.
• More than 60 MILLION women aged 20-24 were married before the age of 18, generally in arranged or forced marriage
• ~1.2 MILLION children are trafficked every year
• Over 300,000 young children, as young as 8 years old, are forced into armed conflicts as soldiers
• More than 1 MILLION children are detained by law enforcement officials, often without charges or trials
• An estimated 70 MILLION women and girls alive today have been subjected to Female Genital Mutilation
• 2 MILLION children are believed to be exploited through prostitution and pornography
• 40 MILLION children, younger than 15, are abused and neglected, requiring healthcare.•

The World Health Organizations facts and figures show:

• Some 40 million children below the age of 15 suffer from abuse and neglect, and require health and social care.
• A survey in Egypt showed 37% of children reporting being beaten or tied up by their parents, and 26% reporting injuries such as fractures, loss of consciousness or permanent disability as a result of this.
• Some 36% of Indian mothers told interviewers in a survey that they had hit their children with an object of some sort within the last six months. 10% per cent said they had kicked their child; 29% had pulled their child’s hair;  28% had hit the child with their knuckles; and three per cent said they had punished their child by putting hot peppers in their mouth.

      A 1995 survey in the United States showed that 5% of parents asked admitted to disciplining their children through one or more of the following: hitting the child with an object; kicking the child; beating the child; and threatening the child with a knife or gun.

      Recent South African police statistics show 21,000 cases of child rape or assault reported, against children as young as nine months old. Only an estimated 1 in 36 cases of rape is reported. And these are the ones we know about. It’s most likely more pervasive and common than we know.

      It takes place everywhere, in the home, in schools, in institutions such as hospitals, orphanages and residential care. They experience it from parents, relatives, siblings, neighbors. It is part of the child’s world: economic, cultural and societal norms form them. Drugs, alcohol, unemployment, crime and cultures of silence are major factors, but not the only factors. Such violence could be part of the child’s world; economy, cultural and societal norms. Children are afraid of their parents, are bullied at school or have to fight their way through gangs and drug pushers to get to school. Children are so very susceptible to such abuse and violence. They may not know that there is anything wrong with their treatment. They may not know where to go for help, or even whom to trust.

      In the United States, on September 30, 2008, there were an estimated 463,000 children in foster care. Most of you, dear readers, are probably thinking that these are mostly children of minorities. I was surprised to find that is completely wrong. Of those children, 44% were white/non-Hispanic, 26%percent were black/non-Hispanic  Just Tuesday of this week, a New York Advocacy Group filed a law suit against the Texas Foster Child System  for abuse and neglect of the children WHILE THEY ARE IN FOSTER CARE! (http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7496814.html)

      Children are more vulnerable to sexual exploitation. In some countries, it is believed that HIV/AIDS can be cured through sex with a virgin. Home video cameras, digital photography and the internet facilitate child pornography, and sex tourism targeting children, all add to their vulnerability. It’s not just a south Asian problem.
 
     Mexico’s social service agency says that there are more than 16,000 children engaged in prostitution, specifically the tourist child prostitution trade. In Lithuania, 20%-50% of the prostitutes are believed to be minors, some as young as 11. Children’s homes rent or lend children as young as 10 to pornographers.

     In Lithuania, 20 to 50 percent of prostitutes are believed to be minors. Children as young as age 11 are known to work as prostitutes. Children from children’s homes, some 10 to 12 years old, have been used to make pornographic movies.

     Child trafficking is not just for prostitution, but adoption, marriage, domestics and slavery. UNICEF estimates that each year 1,000 Guatemalan babies and children are trafficked to North America and Europe for adoption.

     In the United States, we see children who cannot walk safely to the corner market, to the park or to school, even in the presence of a parent in fear of gang violence, drive-by shootings and drug pushers. Children cannot play in their yards unattended for fear of kidnappers and rapists. School isn’t even a safe haven as bullies run amok unchecked.

     Violence, in its many forms, not only can lead to injury or death, it affects long term health. Survivors are more likely to suffer depression or commit suicide later in life. Most survivors are caught in the cycle of violence with their families, and are more likely to abuse their children. Childhood should not be filled with hunger, fear, and violence. It should be a time of joy, love, family and friends and laughter.

     What can we do to stop this horrible thing? I don’t know, If you have any ideas, let me know. I just know it makes me sick.

Violence against women

I feel petty. Here I am complaining about not getting courteous service when there are such horrific things going on across our planet. Atrocities against women and children in particular turn my stomach. Everyone, and I do mean everyone, has a right to get up in the morning and not fear for their lives or their safety.


Just this morning, I read about a 14 year old girl in Bangladesh who was “lashed”, or whipped as we would say, to death for having an affair with a married man.The man, her uncle, was in the midst of raping her when he was caught by his wife who accused them of having an affair. That is not an affair. That is an act of violence. Plain and simple. The man was sentenced to 201 lashes while poor Hena was sentenced to 101 lashes. He escaped after just  a few. She collapsed and later died after 70! The man, his wife (the accuser) and the imam and all those who just stood by should be charged and convicted of her murder. It’s just wrong.

Last week, in Libya, Iman al-Obeidi, a 26 year old woman, claimed to reporters that she was raped by 15 Libyan soldiers over 3 days.The  Libyan government whisked her away and she has not been seen nor heard from since. Her alleged attackers are suing her and her family for liable. What? Excuse me? In Libyan culture, she has brought dishonor to her family. Again, she was A VICTIM. Rape is violence. The men should be the ones who are dishonored and they should be charged with rape and kidnapping.


Female genital mutilation (FGM), a brutal act, is performed on approximately 3 million girls a year according to the United Nations. In its most severe form, the clitoris and labia are removed and the vagina is almost entirely sealed. It is a brutal act. The reasons for FGM are varied, from being proper and traditional, keeping the woman innocent, virginal, feminine and to decrease her sex drive. It’s carried out on young girls sometime between infancy and 15 years old! There is no anesthesia used. Generally, the girl is held down by her mother, sisters, and aunts while the traditional circumciser(male or female) cuts away. In Africa, an estimated 92 million girls from 10 years of age and above have undergone FGM. Don’t look away. Although it’s illegal, it happens right here in the United States. Until the 1950’s, American doctors performed FGM to varying degrees. There are reports of clitoridectomies, to cure nymphomania and melancholia in girls. In the nineteenth century both clitoridectomies and female castration (removal of the ovaries) were practiced by British and American physicians, as cures for melancholia, masturbation, nymphomania, hysteria, lesbianism, and epilepsy. Just last September, a man in San Jose, California circumcised his daughter over the objections of his wife. He had waited until his wife left the house and then locked his three-year-old in the bedroom with him and performed the FGM. He claimed the girl was too wild and this would tame her.

The violence against women and girls is horrendous.


Drom rape, to enslavement, to mutilation, we are being abused.

When one woman is abused, we are all lessened.


On a side note:
Not all my posts will be like this... I had planned to be silly on here, but this just got my goat.
Wait until I get together my post on violence perpetuated on and the abuse of children!

It's a sad state

Where is customer service? The service has gone out of just about everything. There's no courtesy, no thank you, nothing. The customer is no longer the goal. Driving through McD's, I heard, "We're selling Angus burgers today. Want to buy one?" I want to say, "No. I am just here for the fun of it. Did I interrupt your conversation? You can call your girlfriend back later. I just wanted to bug you. I'll be leaving now." I give them my order and hear, "drive up to the first window." I get there and am told, "$19.19." That's it. No greeting, nothing, just how much. I hand him my money and he tosses my change back at me and shuts the window. So, I drive up to the pickup window only to have my food shoved out the window faster than I can take it and again, no hello, no screw you, no nothing and slam, the window is shut! Okay. No. Argh! The grocery store is pretty much the same. I am buying a cart full of groceries and the cashier can't even take two seconds to say hello. And finally, she/he just snaps out the final total. No thank you, no did you find everything okay, nothing. Then, the other day, I ate at Arby's. I actually had time to go in, place an order and sit down and eat. for me, that's a major thing as I am always running, running, running. I was engaged by the cashier: how was my day going, thank you for your order, it will be ready shortly. Wow! How pleasant was that? As people left, they thanked people and wished them a good day. I was even more shocked. It was so pleasant, but the customers didn't reply and actually seemed offended. Is this what the world is coming to? We are always on our phones, calling and texting , trying to maintain contact, yet we shut off everyone else. It's a sad state.