FROM MAMAS, MUTHAS, TO MOTHERS DAY

Mothering is a transitive verb meaning:  to care for or protect like a mother (though the fist meaning is to have given birth).  Maternal instinct, probably normally, should be present in all females.  However, Nature has its anomalies, one of them being that culture has a lot to do with caretaking of the young

"Many people mistakenly believe that litters of kittens can have only one father, and that tom cats will always kill kittens, if given the chance."  Both are myths.  Jennifer Copley wrote an article on Tomcats and Kittens.from which the previous sentence was quoted.  Neither belief is accurate and you can read the full article by clicking here.

The mistake we have made as humans is to assume that God tells some of us what is right and wrong for Mankind and Nature.  Man tends to anthropomorphize and is too often mistaken by assuming that Nature runs on man-made morality.  It does not, nor does Nature make all women motherly, nor does it make all of a woman's children perceive her as 'motherly' as we expect her to be warm, caring, protective and all those good things.

What of the mother who beats or tortures her children?  Having worked in a mental hospital, I saw many anomalies to the notion of perfect mothers.  I have watched the siblings of a child murdered by their mother.  I talked with a mother who felt she had to kill her husband for the mental cruelty he had delivered to her.  She planned to shoot him with the shotgun he kept loaded in their living room but could not do that and let her children live to cope with being orphans as she also planned to shoot herself.  Thus, she killed them as well as her husband and turned the gun on herself but failed to manage more than blowing her shoulder out and staying alive.  The courts could not believe a sane mother could shoot her children so she was sentenced  to a mental hospital.  In fact, she knew exactly what she was doing and had done, escaped the hospital and succeeded in committing suicide later,

Our society talks of racial and terrorist profiling.  We do not consider all the profiling we do about parents.  Those who work in grade and middle schools get a fist hand look at how lacking in maternalism some childrens' mothers are.

Our colloquialisms make merry with mothers with the most collossal insult one can give by degrading his/her mother.  We hear an iteration of 'mammy jammer', men insulted by being called 'mutha', shorthand for being a person who would have intimate, physical relations with his mother.  Yet, when all is said and done, there are most tears shed over the mothers who did their job well.  More tears for her having aged beyond her ability to be the mother they had depended on for so many years.  The lessons taught, which at the time annoyed them were understood and valued only when they became parents themselves.when they could  appreciate the difficult task it is to be a mother.  Only since WWII have mothers juggles child rearing, housework, the increased demands by the schools for parental participation when mothers now work when they hadn't worked pre-War.  If a mother was really good, her children thought she never tired, lived for them only, .forever enjoying their endless requests,

Fortunately, more women fit the proper profule than not and we celebrate them on a Sunday in May as 'Mothers Day'.  Like all Holidays that were invented have been taken over by merchants, It is a day to buy presents, often flowers or candy.  Mothers expect to hear from their offspring whether it is the stick figure on a folded piece of construction paper by the 1st grader or the expensive floral arrangement chosen and sent by the secretary, or wife,  of the Executive, too-busy-to-do-it-himself, son.  Many years later, retailers who are not to be outdone by only one gifting day added Fathers Day in June.  Years later, grandparents got into the act and have their day in September.

But tomorrow is for Mother's....all mothers.  It is not reserved for your mother only.  Mothers whose children don't remember that their mothers like to have confirmation that what they did for their children was appreciated, as well as mothers who think they did a great job when they may not have but do not want to hear the reality. Whichever category you are in, remember your mother  by reaching out and touching her in whatever way works for you....a visit, a phone call, a card, an e-mail....isn't it wonderful that there are so many choices with which to make it is to do?

WE LEARN TRUTH WHEN GOOD JOURNALISTS FOLLOW LEADS TO TRUTH

BP claims to support research for alternative energy.  A search should be made as to what proportion of profit (or, as I'm sure it is called by the pros as operational costs) really go to each of the areas claimed.  Journalists look for truth while politicians collecting cash for campaigns seek to hide the truth,  For a closer look at British Petroleum (yes that BP bringing you the destruction of the Gulf Coast with its fishing industries and threatened wildlife), click here.. 

                                            ..Sometimes the movies serve a real function of carrying the truth to the public with documentaries.  On example is Food, Inc  One reviewer describes it as:  "...this is an illuminating and, at times, heartbreaking account of what's wrong with the food industry in the United States... food manufacturing in the United States ... has damaged many of us in the most personal way possible -- inside of our own bodies."  To read the whole review which appears on Amazon, click here.

Others write books with disclosures all of us should be made aware of to protect our health and bodies.  Michael Pollans' book is an example.  

It seems that there are many sources that warn us.  So what is the problem?  We never know whom to believe.  Newspapers used to have a rule that three separate sources had to confirm a story for its accuracy.  It seems fairly clear that it is hardly adhered to any more.  For further proof, read a newspaper article on something you have witnessed with your own eyes.  It will shock you.  It is about as accurate as tour bus guides who often admit they make up information to keep their passengers engages because life, you see, in reality can sometimes be boring.

Lastly are the ads which label themselves in such tiny letters, it is easy to miss that they are not actual news articles.  Added to the hype are the web pages which write as seen on and then add logos of reputable sources as in: 

This proves there are not too many sources these days on air, on screen, between book covers, or is news print that you can simply accept.  You have to read the fine print on everything, act as your own advocate in acceptance of fact, and in all relationships and business dealings!!  ,,,and I am NOT paranoid.

THE REPUBLICAN CONGRESS IS ANTI-AMERICAN

It puzzles me how so many American voters can't see that the Republican politicians are working so hard to make Obama fail that they neglect to see their actions are failing America as well.   Reid has blasted the Republicans over the stalled vote on the Finance Bill but none of them seem to want to grow up and remember for whom they actually work.  Reid complains:  “They won’t let us move on any amendments,  It’s obvious that they do not want to put in decent restrictions on Wall Street.”  For the full article by David Herzenhorn in The Caucus, click here.

Republican obstructionism was last as powerful when, during the Clinton administration, they were a majority in Congress that hi-jacked the government to titillate themselves with the President's sex life.  Important bills languished while they spent their time pulling more and more prurient details to hang out to the voyeuristic public. To read about obstruction of Executive and Judicial nominees currently, click here,

Obama should be commended for not having wasted his time on revenge of the last Administration that dumped nothing but debt and economic manure in his lap when they left office.  The Republicans immediately got amnesia about where many of the problems came from, with which he struggles today to get them to take action on for the good of the country.

LIVING WITH HAPPINESS; GRIEVING WITH SADNESS part 1

All humans go through life with two universal fears.  The first is that they will be unloved, thus abandoned and alone; the second that they will be unlovable.  How these fears manifest and responses to those fears are two of the major determinants of happiness for a person.  Those who value human life as only a biological principle believe  that only a beating heart is necessary for happiness, which gives one the opportunity to grow up as an emotionally healthy human being.  The stress induced by being unloved or perceiving that one is unlovable accounts for physical and mental illnesses for those who are vulnerable genetically or biologically.

This site describes cortisol,  'the stress hormone'.  One can suffer by having too much of it for too long..  Unfortunately, too much of that which is written tells us the ills and evils we may suffer but it does not tell us what, as humans, we need to do to avoid them nor how Nature may have placed us in a place (with people and chance) which disallows our avoidance of pain.

Unwanted children, born to poverty, stand a greater chance of never having a stress-free life than children surrounded by love and an opportunity to develop the human skills of making meaningful relationships, winning personalities, adequate coping skills, and all the attributes of intelligence, education, and other opportunities for a successful life in our society.

Is there, therefore, any reason that we are unable to see the cruelty that our present attitudes of forcing women, who are impregnated accidentally or by rape, to bear that fetus to a totally unpredictable and less than optimal existence?  The sadness in not for the parent alone but for the unwanted child who lives without love, with no foundation for self-confidence or fortune to be taught the skills to lead a normal , happy life with ability to make healthy, loving relationships.  

The above is a rewritten and modified  Part 1 of a series.  Part 2 will follow soon.....

BOILING WATER THAT IS CONTAMINATED BY MAIN BREAK

Two days ago, I was returning from an afternoon out, during  which I received no news about the water problem to be faced on arrival home.  I stopped at Costco, amused at the silly people paying so much for multiple cases of bottled water.  By the time I heard that I would have to boil water for an indeterminate period of time, water had become as scarce as in the Sahara,.  I think back to having had to memorize Coleridge's "Water, water everywhere but not a drop to drink."  Referenced here

Trying to remember simple things, like a small amount of boiled water to dip  my toothbrush, then a small amount of water in a separate cup to rinse the brush takes thought.  Rinsing off my hands then applying sanitizer is not the usual rote step.  I realized the intrusion into my day, having to actually THINK about these tasks invading my head , stopped the normal flow of planning I usually do during simple tasks.

As with so many things, I take for granted having potable water by turning on the tap.  It was an unappreciated luxury until I lost it and realized my loss.  First I noted how much of my day is spent in rote actions.  The urge to turn on the tap to rinse my hands is probably the most difficult to ignore.  I can still do that, as long as I spray a hand sanitizer on them after MWRA water has touched my skin...which only makes me want to wash again to get the sanitizer off.

A coupler on the ten foot pipe, the viaduct carrying water to more than two dozen towns from the Quabbin reservoir, expected to last 50 years, broke after only 7 years.  More than 256,000,000 gallons. or some such staggering number, were spilled into the Charles River ( fortuitously saving lots of basements) before the flow could be stopped.  Business may be more frustrated than I, but we each feel our own pain most acutely.

Turning on the news I heard and saw that a flash flood had occurred in Nashville, Tennessee , killing 23 people.  The impossible to pronounce volcano in Iceland is active again and grounding planes in the UK anew.  There are more tornadoes in Oklahoma, and  the oil slick is already breaching the safety and lives of endangered species of birds and animals, as well as livelihoods near the Gulf of Mexico,. Sometimes it takes an 'upside-the-head' for me to realize just how good I have it.  At least the tap is still there and I even know how to boil water!

KNOWN AS LOCKING THE BARN DOOR AFTER THE HORSE IS STOLEN

A BBC headline  reads "Catholic order to be overhauled after founder's abuse."  Maciel, who died in 2008, fathered a daughter with a mistress as well as sexually abusing many boys and young men over a period of 30 years. He is described as "immoral".  Fancy that!  Apparently 30 years was not long enough for someone to figure out that immorality was going on in the church.  If God spoke to  priests...or at least the church hierarchy as they would lead us to believe...was God hiding it from them?  Naturally, since pFather Maciel took an oath and deniied any wrong doing, he was believed while his victims were allowed to suffer like modern day Cassandras. 

In another article, the Previous Pope was accused of failing to act on sex abuse case.  Sadly, neither Pope Pius nor Father Maciel are alive...as is true of many of the priests in the hey-day of sexual molestation perpetrated by so many of the proests on both young men and young women.  Read on here.

While I am sure there must have been some trustworthy men of the cloth loyal to their vows, we will never know who they might have been.  The shadow of doubt was cast on all of them by the perfidy of those who were guilty.  For those who say 'God works in strange ways.'  That certainly might be true as we glance around at what evolution and Mother Nature have gifted us.  But God and the church are two entirely different entities.  The church also works strange ways . It is  greed and most religions are a business, fostering too much deceit and mistrust for those intelligent enough to open their eyes and leave blind faith behind..  Without question, some aspects of churches, temples, mosques, or whatever place in which people worship, may serve people in some positive way.  I sincerely question whether those people might not behave similarly without the structure of religion if they are taught to think for themselves develop coping skills, personal boundaries, and can apply the Golden Rule or whatever form of it is practiced by their own religion.

Can the church accept that is the reason why so many have left both the 'calling' and being congregants.

PROTESTS OVER THE ARIZONA IMMIGRATION LAW

The situation is not as it may seem to those outside Arizona.  It is true that the situation there has reached a critical problem which is not being defined  well enough and is being by a pumped up mob.  The citizens of Arizona have been asking for help and relief from Washington and have received insufficient response...more lip service than anything else..  See this video.

Once again, protesters have succeeded in obfuscating the real problems that Arizonans face by having the law focused on as 'the' problem.  One little girl interviewed said that this land was founded on immigrants and could not see the issue.  Indeed, the land owned by the American Indians was swamped by white settlers who stole the land and freedom of that people.  Is that an example to throw out as desirable?

When the English first came followed by so many other nationalities seeking refuge here, we didn't need infrastructure supported by taxes.  Schools, medical services, utilities as they are today. When immigrants came here, there were no social services being paid for by those who were already here.  While I am unsympathetic to the politics of Arizona, I am sympathetic to the people who lands and crops have been ruined by illegals tromping through and, as I understand, two Arizona residents have been killed.  Some things can no longer be tolerated or ignored.  With no doubt the time has come for the government to act, yet how can it be done when the Republicans have vowed to veto any attempts by the Democrats to pass bills?

In an article by Margaret Regan, 1864 presented a horrendous picture of the state of Tucson,  Click here to see the shock of repetition of brutality.  How quickly we forget that people do not easily give up what was their's.  Our South demonstrates that as they cling to their Civil War as though they are still fighting it.  The Spanish once held the Southwest and California.  We Americans have taken so much from so many and forget it was not always ours and not gifted to us graciously.

However, what we did do properly was set up a system of laws in order to try to be fair.  We set up a system of immigration and asylum and one of today's problems is that some sneak in illegally and want to claim an eminent domain.  Parents have children to assure their citizenship and then we have people saying that the children are Americans and should be allowed to stay here with their families, forgetting that their parents chose to make illegal moves and are responsible for their own children..  These would be pithy issues even for Socrates to rule on.

The people in these protests are pulled along with the angry or sympathetic tide, understanding little of the overall issues, and, unfortunately, the government is not spelling them out publicly.  Obama promised transparency of government.  I would strongly urge him to outline the complicated picture being presented with many more facets than the largest gemstones.

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