This Is America, Right?

Without a doubt, the recession has hurt a lot of good folks in the last year.

I'm not talking about people who bought houses way out of their league with no money down and high expectation of flipping them for a fortune, or those who found it so damn easy to get into a home, they didn't make their mortgage payments.

The good folks I'm talking about got blindsided by a tangled mess created below the surface of every day life. They're hardworking, honest and loyal Americans. (Emo closed a storefront business June 30, 2008, and is still working to pay off debt. I likely will be for another year, but I'm thankful for the work!) They have no concept of what trillions of dollars is, except that they understand it means future generations have a huge bill to pay before they ever walk this land.

And while some of these good folks are rightfully angry over bail outs and bonuses, I doubt they really want the country to go in the direction it's headed. This idea about giving THE GOVERNMENT power to take over private business, even dismantle them, is scary. The talk of today would take us right past Socialism and into Communism -- at the very least, it takes us right to the door.

That isn't what our great Constitution establishes, which is why true blue Americans, Democrats and Republicans alike, are throwing Tea Parties throughout the country. The one in Tampa, organized by ordinary Moms, drew a record crowd (for Tampa) of 4,000 people. The Tea Party is a classic American symbol that goes to our roots.

I pray that all of us -- including our elected officials -- come to our senses soon. What do you think?

A Mess of Papers

Hello, again.
It's been awhile -- Emo Cat has done some traveling (a great experience for a homebody!). OK, OK. I've been back for a few months. But I succumbed to a mound of papers, and that mound camouflageded my notebooks, not to mention intimidated me no end.
So, for the second time in the last year, I'm saying I'm back.
May this be the first of consistent entries in a permanent round.

Piper's Mom

Some friends and I went to see Sarah Palin yesterday. She's a remarkable woman, who is greatly under-appreciated by her opponents (or perhaps they are greatly threatened by her?).

The much reported rhetoric on her inability to reach the young people was flatly rejected by this crowd. Scores of teenagers and college students stood in line for two hours or longer to get it in to the rally along the beautiful banks of the St. Johns.

Sarah Palin's real threat to her opposition is that she is so real. For a person with twice as much political experience as Barrack Obama, a mother of five children, a wife to a hunk of a "First Dude," Sarah Palin is down to earth. Humble. Genuine. She connects. She is real.

The truth of her character is evident in her family, with all its challenges. She stands up for her beliefs even when it's difficult -- a woman who stands for life, she didn't abort her youngest and fifth child when she learned he was a Down Syndrome baby. Sarah and Todd gave Bristol loving support upon learning she was pregnant out of wedlock. Talk about a good role model.

One scene over the last couple months exemplifies the kind of people Sarah and Todd Palin are. It was during the Republican National Convention when the camera zoomed in on 6-year-old Piper holding her baby brother. If you missed it -- or would like to see Palin love in all its natural beauty, here it is for you.



No wonder Alaskans love Sarah Palin so. She's Piper's mom. What do you think?

Coming Out of a Funk

Right after Emo's last post (June 2), it became aware that our business was joining the ranks of 40,000 other small businesses that closed their doors that month. It's a tough ride.

I've learned some things along the way. First of all, a lot of good people exist in this world and they more than make up for the idiots out there. That's a lead in to the acknowledgment that Christ was right when He said, "Ask and you shall receive." More often than not, when I have asked people to work with me, they have. If I hadn't asked, they wouldn't have known I needed help.

Secondly, some people see a need and fill it. I can't say thank you enough to all the people who have been there for me. But every night when I get on my knees, I thank my Good Lord for you and ask Him to pour His blessings upon you.

Third, getting out of a business is a long haul. Closing the doors is merely the first of many, many steps. Some days I take baby steps, some days I can get up to a jog. But this is a marathon, so it will take me awhile.

It took me awhile to get back to writing and I hope to stay at it regularly. What does the old song say? "I pick myself up, brush myself off, and start all over again."

My Friend Mr. Hoyt

My friend Mr. Hoyt and I have never been introduced. And I'm quite sure he has never heard of me. But Mr. Hoyt is a man I'd like to know and I would consider it a privilege to be his friend.

I learned about Mr. Hoyt in an email and followed the link to the video below. The email explained that he had a heart condition -- no details about whether this condition required surgery or is managed by medication, diet and exercise. Ah, but the story is lost in the details. Let me share with you what's important.

Mr. Hoyt's son asked him to take him running, which he did. Then the son wanted to run in a marathon together, which they did. Then there were more marathons. Finally, the son asked his father to take part in an Ironman contest, which they did.

I don't know too many fathers who are that involved with their sons. Running takes time. Marathons take an inordinate amount of time and commitment, and Mr. Hoyt gave both to his son. Obviously commitment is one of Mr. Hoyt's strengths. The Ironman requires a 2.4 mile ocean swim, a 112 mile bike ride, and a 26.2 mile run. And Mr. Hoyt completed the Ironman with his son.

But Mr. Hoyt's son can't swim, or ride a bike, or run, or even walk. Throughout each event, the father carries the son -- and it appears to be a joy for both. Talk about perseverance.

So enjoy this video. It is a remarkable journey that inspires the human heart and comforts the soul. And if you know Mr. Hoyt or happen to run into him, please, give him my thanks for being a hero in a hurried-up, not-now, throw-away world.

Forget Obama. Throw MO from the Train.

My childhood was idyllic in most ways. Although we went without iPods, remotes, and cell phones, we had freedom children nowadays don't have.

We lived in a middle class neighborhood -- a 1950s subdivision built for war veterans. Woods to explore. Creeks to fish. Open roads to ride our bikes. Open space to play baseball. Plenty of places to curl up and read a book. No concerns about child molesters or kidnappers.

One thing that wasn't idyllic was Motor Mouth Mo. She had two sons a year older and a year younger than I, a kind of creepy husband who was a civil engineer, no job, and a wicked tongue. Mo lived for gossip. She relished tidbits of information she could turn into full blown interesting but largely false stories that hurt people within the confines of our little neighborhood. It's a gossip's mastery to tell a story with just enough truth in it to catch fire. My family was burned by Motor Mouth Mo fires more than once.

Today, there's another Mo on the scene. This one, while not really gossipping, is more dangerous because she has a national audience and the potential to hurt millions of people. She is Michelle Obama (MO), who, not long ago, slapped American military men and women along with veterans and other every-day heroes when she said for the first time in her life she was proud to be an American.

Apparently, MO's mouth has given up some pretty hard ammo that will be used against her very own BO come fall. According to Hillary supporter Larry Johnson, some claim to have a tape of MO railing against "whitey" while speaking at Jeremiah Wright's church.

Whoa! That's right up there with Jesse Jackson's use of the "H" reference to Jews, and Marion Barry's use of the "B" word referring to a woman. If MO's use of the term "whitey" isn't racist, then neither is anyone's use of the "N" word. Blacks don't have carte blanche to use racist terms. No one does. It's just wrong. And it's not an endearing quality in a woman who finds pride in a country only upon her husband ascending the nomination platform to that country's presidency.


MO should know better, having had a good education and great career. A Princeton grad, MO went on to Harvard Law school, worked in corporate law and as Her Princeton thesis (written in 1985 and currently withheld from public viewing by Princeton's library until Nov. 5, 2008) declares that she apparently discovered her blackness at college: "My experiences at Princeton have made me far more aware of my 'blackness' than ever before." Interesting that having been so in tune with her blackness for the last 28 years, she now emulates the late great Jackie KO, rather than a great black woman, such as Shirley Chisholm, Maya Angelou or Alice Walker.

I attend a Christian church, and I read the Bible. In Galatians it says, "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus." (This can easily be understood to mean neither white, nor black, nor brown, nor yellow.) So, I'm not sure what kind of church Jeremiah Wright's is or what holy book they follow. But it sure doesn't correlate with what we read in the Bible. I just don't see this woman being the First Lady of this great nation. Personally, I want a First Lady (or First Mister) who can help a president envision a land in which all children, regardless of their skin, are free to explore, fish, bike or read in safety. Anyone else should be thrown from the train, as BO did with his grandmother.

What do you think?

The World's Changing Face

Take look at the world. Make it a long, slow look. Drink in the rich cultures. Gondolas in Italy. The Riviera in France. China's patchwork of farms. Embed those pictures in your mind because they will not be around long.

And this doesn't have to do with global warming -- the hottest day on record was in 1934 and only three of the top 10 hottest days occurred in the last 10 years (check out this site for more information on global warming data).

Rather, the changing face of the world is about low birth rates and sex selection. Western Europeans are not reproducing at a rate high enough to sustain their populations. In fact they're 30 percent below replacement. This creates delicate situations. For one thing, the balance is topsy-turvy.

People are marrying later and having fewer or no children. Remember the family pyramid? Mom, Dad at the top with their three or so children, and their spouses and children? Well, now it's Mom and Dad and their child. This means more people who are older at the top, and fewer young people at the bottom. Old people are considered a burden.

(Think this is not so? Remember the heat wave in France in 2003 when 15,000 people died? They were sick and elderly in hospitals and nursing homes whose adult children didn't interrupt their vacations to return home and take care of their dead parents' bodies, but left it to the facilities to find refrigeration units to hold the bodies until they were claimed. And France had the audacity to criticize America for the 1,100 deaths in New Orleans during Katrina.)

The Easter European countries will survive, but not the nations, not their cultures, because Muslim immigrants are living, working and having families there without assimilating into the cultures. Check out this clip on an issue Italy is facing.




In Western Europe, Russia's population has fallen so low even the United Nations doubts it has a chance to rebound despite recently implemented incentives for couples to bear children. Russia has one-sixth of the world's land mass -- and much of its oil supply -- and only 142 million people, whose life expectancy is 55.

To its south is China with its 1.3 billion people, three-decade-old one-child law, and fanatical emphasis on male children. China has 70 million single young men, more than half of whom will not be able to find a young woman to marry. A migration north may be a plausible alternative.

While not a new phenomenon, this changing face of the world's population bears increasing importance in light of other issues brought together in an article by a former CIA official Herbert Meyer. His four points are worth reading as his perspective is clear, unique, and devoid of emotion. It's also a good defense of the Judeo-Christian society and its embrace of intertwining faith with life in the modern world. For Herbert Meyer's full article, click here.

In the meantime, look at the world around you. Drag out your old National Geographics. Enjoy the view while it lasts.