BULLYING NOT NEW; JUST SUPPORTED BY TOO MANY

Bullying is often not the creation of the bully.  Often there is subtle approval and permission given by a parent or parents, the local society, and those who want someone else to do their 'dirty work'.  I've been searching out what is going on about laws or states who seriously express concern about bullying, I found a site that looks interesting.  Click here. The site belongs to the Bully Police USA.  Most of the states are listed, with many having been given a grade rating.  I was interested in seeing that Massachusetts earned an A++ rating.  If that is deserved, I don't wish to imagine how little is being done in other states.  California brought their rating up from a D to a B and the reasons why it came up are listed.

Bullying exists wherever the power structure is unequal and the one with more perceived power can effectively bully...sometimes indistinguishable from blackmail, though often physical or power in other ways to hurt the target, such as firing, doing damage to their reputation, etc..  As prevalent as it may be in Middle School, we should never presume bullying only happens in children and teens.  There are bosses who are bullies, law enforcement personnel in all stations, clergy, politicians, men, women, and anyone who can 'win' over someone else and sports the cruelty to be able to see it through.  Just disagreeing with someone else's opinion causes some bullies to take action.

This makes it a conclusion that those who are biased, opinionated, and unable to believe theirs are not the only acceptable opinions can easily bully to get others to agree.  The abortion doctor, Dr. George Tiller, who was shot a few months ago is certainly a poster boy for this kind of rigidity in the bullying perpetrator.  The murderer believed he was doing something good.  He was incapable of feeling for the life he took nor the family around him and friends who loved and depended on Dr. Tiller. 

As is typical in my first paragraph, the man who shot Dr. Tiller was being urged on by the rhetoric of the anti-abortionists.  Those who advocate violence will watch this kind of bullying and feel virtuous because it was not their finger lifted in the violence.  However, Bill O'Reilly, in my opinion, and those like him should share the responsibility for their actions.  Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann, Glenn Beck, Limbaugh, and all those who are stirring up violence should be held accountable when it happens.

FOLLOW THE TRAIL

The axiom 'for every action, there is a reaction' should have people thinking ahead to what those reactions of consequences might be. The Cheney/Bush administration neglected to do this when they declared war in Iraq. As a result, the pain and price paid in human suffering will last for decades. A far cry from the scenario they had fancied...that we would be greeted as liberators and met with flowers and wild greetings.

While Pro-Lifers think that they would not condone murder, the are expressing relief that Dr. Tiller will no longer be doing abortions. In fact, no one will be doing the difficult and humane acts he was doing or making lives possible for so many people. A life is not just a fetus growing to term., it is all humans of all ages who search not only for life, but quality of life for all. There will be no more happy babies or happy parents in the future simply because Dr. Tiller was assassinated. A 9 year old girl, impregnated incestuously by her father. should not have been required to become a mother under those conditions. Yet there are those fanatics out there who would have had her carry the baby to term regardless of the cost to the child-mother, her infant, and the family members (if there were those) who would forever carry the shame and scar of the father's actions. Most importantly, how would that infant develop self-esteem if it were kept in the home with this child-mother, or if put out for adoption, only to learn later in life of its beginnings.

When we thought ethanol would free us from oil dependency, we were feeling freer and hopeful until we realized that more fuel was expended to make the ethanol from corn than it was worth. Brazil seems to fare better using sugar beets.

An unexpected figure came out of an article on BBC under technology.

The horror of the World Trade Towers bombing was the nucleus for many more deaths beside those in New York. Deaths followed in the workers who cleaned up without masks. The people who fought and those who worked in Iraq, adding the Iraqis themselves. These deaths had news men and women also being killed...a fact not as common in previous wars Aid workers were not immune to the pull of death. The events are like links in a chain. They extend, breakout, shorten, and continue in places that would surprise those who do not understand the connectedness to these deadly events.