Sunday Morning Coming Down

A high school classmate went on a rant about free tuition, free health care, free abortions, free housing .... The gist being that life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are possible, but that nothing is free.  I get it.  Government can't do everything and individual effort is essential. How anybody could use the term "snowflake" as related to affordable education, a woman's right to choice, affordable health care for everyone, and affordable housing, is out of touch with the reality many people face. " Snowflake is a 2010s derogatory slang term for a person, implying that they have an inflated sense of uniqueness, an unwarranted sense of entitlement, or are overly-emotional, easily offended, and unable to deal with opposing opinions. " In some ways the idea of entitlement is a pejorative term in this context.  As if all entitlements are earned when in fact they are not.  Opportunity is often restricted, artificial barriers established and pr...

The President wasn't the first to say "love it or leave". I even remember the bumper sticker : will the last American leaving Florida please bring the flag. From the Miami Times June 11, 2010. "Uh oh. Here we go again. Gov. Charlie Crist signed into law the state's first Hispanic license plate this week. People are already taking sides. Some say it's good, others bad, and still others are convinced it will bring out the racists among us. The plate reads "UNI-DOS" (UNITED) with a Santa Maria -type ship in the middle of the word. At the bottom, it states "Hispanic Achievers," and in even smaller type, "Since 1513 Helping Communities Prosper," which is as confusing as it is asinine. We had to look it up, but that was the year when Ponce de Leon's expedition first visited Florida. How he helped the community prosper is less certain." I remember the draft during the Viet Nam War.  Some left for Canada to avoid...

I came across this e-mail from a cousin that is timely.  He is currently rebuilding after losing his house and possessions during a  wildfire about a year ago in Redding, California.  I'm forwarding a part of the e-mail. "We are old but we are strong and still competent. We have and will continue to survive. I draw inspiration from my ancestors that lived through devastating volcanic events, loss of pastures and livestock in Iceland, not to mention economic exploitation by the Danes. They traveled across the Atlantic to new nations, learned a new language, lived in small, hastily built, crude little cabins occupied by multiple families served by a single wood stove. They survived smallpox, cleared marginal land, were initially not well fed and damn near froze to death. The  average family in the 1875 group brought with them an average of 6 Canadian dollars per family. And look at the contribution they made to both Canada and the United States. They were i...

Several weeks ago I drove past a temporary overflow facility for unaccompanied minors that crossed the border that is located in Homestead, Florida.  A UU Church Service in June made me take a slight detour past the facility which is part of the Homestead Reserve Air Force Base and a former Job Corp Center. The drive by disturbed me. I have known adults who have been in detention and by all reports at the time, I can only imagine what kids between the ages of 12-17 might be going through in a prison like facility. I went to the Homestead Facility last Monday arriving at 10:00AM with some church members, a follow up, and to show my displeasure with a broken immigration policy.  At least that is what I thought I was doing on the ride down to Homestead.  Standing on a ladder waving a heart and watching kids being lead outside while others were marched back into buildings for classes was weird.  After about an hour on the ladder, I stood outside the entrance to the f...