I'm Back!

Campobello light house...my favorite

Today is an historic moment for the millions of Americans that will no longer be denied health insurance because they can't afford it. Much will be written about this decision by a conservative court but all i want to say is YEEEEEEEEEEEEHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

We just got back from a wonderful trip and not really having time to write. i've decided to just paste in a few pics from the journey.

See ya next week when i will be back on my regular schedule.

Kouchibouguac Brown Bear

If anyone knows my bear story they will be horrified to hear that i jumped out of the car and crossed the road to get up close and personal with this bear. Never did see any Moose.

Classic old farm buildings...check out the shingle work.

Lighthouses and boats everywhere. i tried not to photograph them but they just called out for attention and the red soil against the grey sky and green foliage just wouldn't leave me alone. i loved it and the wildlife and hiking and seeing whales, seals, foxes and tons of new birds. Everyone should take a trip to the maritime provinces in Canada.

Ferries were an integral part of the trip

Castalia Marsh beautiful birding area

They had a jar tacked on so you could leave your money

Loosing his winter coat

Seals didn't know whether to scoot off or keep watching

Unexpected encounters

A wonderful aspect of traveling is all the people you meet along the way. Yesterday we were in one of my favorite book stores when a woman approached me and asked if i lived in that city. i replied that i didn't, told her i lived in the Virgin Islands and  she said she was from South Africa. She was looking for a popular, recent book to bring as a gift to her friend. She wanted something an avid reader may like and thought i looked like someone who could give her some ideas.

We started chatting about books, roamed around the book store together and introduced our husbands to each other. It turns out he is an avid birder in South  Africa and off we went on another round of chatting. By the end of our soujourn in the book store we had exchanged addresses and phone numbers and invited each to visit the other. It was one of those instantaneous  i like you kind of exchanges.

And it hasn't been the only one we have had. At another public venue we met an executive from General Motors in South America. We were sitting on the same bench resting while waiting for family members. We chatted about shoppers and their frenzies especially during sales and how without it the economy wouldn't churn. i said if it had to depend on me it would go bust because i wasn't a big consumer. He also was not a consumer but his wife was and he was suffering through it. They had been at the mall since 9:30 in the morning and it was now 7:00pm.

Since we had to wait so long we ended up getting very chummy and started talking politics. He was very forthcoming about the politics in his country and before we knew it we were discussing socialism, capitalism and what had been happening in S.A. Ever the grand inquisitor i asked him how he felt about the changing political landscape and he amazed me by saying he was in favor of it. He said for too long the disparity between the wealthy and the poor had held back the country but that now it was thriving.

Instead he was worried about our nation and said that if the Republicans got in we should expect a further deterioration. His grasp of our politics and the influence of money in it led him to believe we were on the way down which he found horrifying. He said the US had always been the guiding light but that now we had lost our way. He was genuinely worried about our future and saw us heading towards what they had gotten rid of... military, money and government in bed together. He saw the relationship between the three as an exercise in disaster and wondered out loud what was wrong with Americans that they were unable to see this.

i of course agreed with him but reflected on the fact that most Americans were too busy trying to make a living to pay attention to where the country was headed. He was upset that more of us didn't discuss politics and study what had gone wrong around the world when the wealthy had too much power and used the military to further their corporate goals. i could have talked to him all day but had to move on.

So far this trip has been very rich in deep discussions with people who don't live here but are very concerned for the health of our nation. i hope i meet more along the way.

i don't have time to edit so bear with me while i'm on the road.

See ya next week.

Stateside

There is a really good book out called "Beyond the Beautiful Forevers" by Katherine Boo which takes place in Mumbai. The book's author spends years frequenting a slum by the international airport. Without interfering in anyone's lives she is able to develop an intimate feeling for each occupant and writes about them with the intensity of a fictionalized novel.

This morning i was sitting at an apartment , very early in the morning in a big city trying to figure out what birds were calling to each other. They had awakened me at the crack of dawn and i wanted to know who they were. Binoculars in hand i scanned the available trees(three), power lines, and chimney tops. Birds flew in and out of my field of view and i ticked off the ones i knew and looked up the ones i didn't. i drank my tea, watched squirrels, listened for birds and waited for the rest of the house to wake up.

After observing for about 15 minutes i saw an Asian man approach a pile of garbage that had been stacked out on the street for the morning pickup. He was clean, thin, medium height, closely cropped hair, wearing brown trousers and a brown shirt, he looked like he could be anyone from the neighborhood putting out their garbage and was pushing a cart filled with stuff that looked like he was getting rid of.

i watched out of curiosity as he took a large full plastic bag off the cart and walked over to the pile. Instead of throwing it on the pile he placed it on the sidewalk away from the pile and walked across the street to a set of blue garbage cans that were lined up. He opened the lid of the first one and took out a small plastic bag that was maybe 1/3 full. He kept doing this emptying the bags and putting them aside. He emptied the contents back into the bin then kept picking through the can.

I thought he had hit a gold mine. Aluminum cans that had been placed back in their cardboard containers came out in threes, fours and fives. He unloaded the cans into the plastic bags he had emptied and kept picking. Bottles came out too so he walked back across the street and got his cart to move it closer to the bins. He methodically laid the bottles on their sides in the main part of the cart and stuffed the extra plastic bags into a box he had hanging off the side.

He went through every trash can on the street, kicked bags lying on the ground to see if they needed going through and methodically worked his way up the block. He had a spritzer bottle filled with something liquid and a towel that he cleaned his hands with. If i hadn't watched him picking through the garbage i would have thought he was a resident.

Trash picking, politics, caste systems, death and life all are brought to the surface in Boo's amazing piece of work. Reading a book like that about India divorces you from the reality that some of these same types of occupational endeavors are going on daily in our own country. We tend to close our eyes to the realities that many homeless endure on a daily basis and believe ourselves to be better than those countries we read about or visit.

i haven't been in the states 24 hours yet and already i'm seeing the dark side of our nation in an affluent community.

See ya next week.

Legalize same sex marriage on St. Croix

On marriage equality...did you know that divorce rates are highest among evangelical's. i don't know if that's actually true but i picked it up somewhere. The other one i picked up was that divorce rates are higher in conservative states...i wonder if that is true, actually i think that one is. On a personal level here on St. Croix it does seem that most of my liberal friends that are in long marriages have been married a long long time while most of my conservative friends in second long marriages have all been divorced at least once. Another anomaly i suppose and one not based upon reliable data, but it makes for interesting rumination.

Anyway, this past week was historic in ways most of us on the left never expected. President Obama came out in favor of marriage equality and set off a fire storm amongst those for and against.
Before i go on and just to make it perfectly clear i am in favor of marriage equality and see no reason whatsoever to think that two men or two women marrying will ever affect the institution of marriage between a man and a woman in a negative manner. In fact i think it will only strengthen the institution by encouraging more people to make permanent commitments and i applaud the president for openly expressing his views.

In many ways i have always thought that a homosexual man or woman hiding in a straight marriage is grossly unfair to the other partner. They can never love that person the way they should or deserve and live a lie their entire lives making everyone unhappy. Why would anyone condone or encourage these types of relationships? Why not encourage a healthy relationship between two adults that want to love each other without hiding.

People like Pat Robertson say the sexual union of two men or women brings disease and pain... well i hope he knows that it can bring disease and pain between a man and a woman just as easily. Syphilis, gonorrhea, chlamydia, and herpes can wreck havoc. Domestic violence, emotional violence, alcoholism, drug abuse and anger can ruin childrens lives in a heterosexual marriage. Divorce, death there are all sorts of instances where marriage falls apart unexpectedly. Just because a man and woman are married is no guarantee that a family is intact or that the children will come out unscathed. And the same will go for man,man and woman, woman marriages also.

When those on the right talk about the institution of marriage they see this unreal vision of family bliss. Take off the rose colored glasses and support marriage equality cause their getting married is never going to affect your marriage in any way shape or form. Marriage equality will probably cut down on sexually transmitted disease and create more stable communities.

The positive part of marriage equality is that two people that love each other can legally tend to each others needs and the needs of their family without having to worry that the rug will be pulled out from underneath them.

i read a story recently of two men who had been together for decades. They had invested in properties, built a business and made a life together. When one got sick as they got older the other was not allowed to make decisions and the hated sister in law came in and wrecked havoc. She had always hated the companion and his relationship with her brother so she denied him access to his lover while in the hospital because she was the next of kin. When his partner died she took him to court and got half of the estate, ruining his business, taking his home and disrupting his life. Had they been allowed to legally marry this never would have happened. They spent a lifetime together and this one vindictive sister came in and made the survivors life a living hell.

But now i get to the real crux of this piece which is that St. Croix should legalize same sex marriage immediately. Can you imagine how this will boost our economy? Everyone wants to get married in a tropical paradise and because marrying legally for gays is limited to a few states we could be at the cutting edge of a booming industry. Just think of all the occupations that would be impacted positively...flowers, transportation, housing, food, clothing, entertainment, lawyers, judges, real estate people and the list goes on.
So tell your friends we should legalize same sex marriage. Spread it around, talk it up, i'll bet it will make us a boom island once again.

See ya next week.

Music Day

After the rain stopped it was gorgeous!

Today is one of those medley days when I'm tired of trying to save the world and just want to have fun and let someone else do it.
So to perk you up and make you think a little listen to Eddy Grant and his Electric Avenue clip on You Tube.

Now you have the rhythm and hopefully have noticed the political commentary flowing through a song that so many love to dance to.

The Neville Brothers out of New Orleans used to be one of my favorite bands to listen to and see. Their song Brother John is a great ode to a fallen warrior.


You probably didn't listen to either one of the above because so many of us are always in a hurry and don't have time to slow down and take a small break. Scroll back up...pick one out...turn up the volume and walk around until its done. You need a break from sitting at the computer anyway so here is your chance.

If you didn't like either of those two above and don't want to get up yet, here are some photos you can look at.
After you finish looking at the photos scroll back up and at least listen to Electric Avenue and get out of your chair. These were taken at Jump Up and around the island. Get out of your chair and listen to the music!!!!

Add caption

This lady was selling hats and that's the moon behind her, isn't she beautiful?

Two white dinghy's looking so peaceful at the dock

Yep that's Lance coming up the Beast!

Shot during a sunset walk on the beach

Scaly-napped Pigeon blurred through binoculars

See ya next week!

Ahhhh factor

It's raining here after a dry spell and although rain usually makes me feel like cuddling up at home with a good book i was out doing my morning swim. When the clouds move in the incredible hues of gray are just as beautiful as a clear day. The understated color ranges from deep dark and ominous looking to white out conditions in a 180 degree visual sweep when out in the water. Sometimes a bit of rainbow appears then disappears just as quickly. Rain pelting down in sheets moving west against the mountains is a fabulous sight to observe. Rain pelting on the top side of the water while you are looking at its impact underwater and the fish going about their business as if its just another day never fails to bring the ahhhhh factor front and center. The water was amazingly clear considering the conditions above.

The ahhhh factor plays a huge role in my daily life. It creeps up when i'm valuing a storm, watching nature, or learning something new. This morning i stumbled upon an article that said that agnostics, atheists and the non-religious, according to a study done by Saslow and Willer at UC Berkeley have been shown to be more compassionate than highly religious people. Having an emotional connection to someone who is less advantaged or even a complete stranger is a strong indicator for generosity.

Rob Willer, the studies co author, said that most religious people, “may ground their generosity less in emotion, and more in other factors such as doctrine, a communal identity, or reputational concerns Overall, his research suggests that although less religious people tend to be less trusted in the U.S., when feeling compassionate, they may actually be more inclined to help their fellow citizens than more religious people,”

And so i had another ahhhhhh affect after reading the piece. Having experienced this first hand as a child when my mother approached the church for help i found myself not at all surprised that the highly religious may not view those in need with compassion. The church turned us away at was for us the crisis of a lifetime and the government safety net stepped in to fill the void we found ourselves in.

i always find it difficult to understand when those on the right claim charity is the purview of religious organizations not government. They fail to understand that those organizations can pick and choose who they help while the government as i understand it is not supposed to discriminate.If you have ever been turned away at a time of need by a non government group and then had the government step in and save you it is small wonder that trying to protect the safety net supported by our taxes is a no brainer.

The study done in no way confirms my bias regarding the less than charitable religious organization i experienced as opposed to a government safety net it just re-activated a childhood horror that plays out whenever i read studies like this http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2012/04/30/religionandgenerosity/ and which is why i'm against privatizing.

What exactly is privatizing better at for the nation?
Imagine Yosemite and Yellowstone with neon signs.
Or think about the residents of Chicago that get to pay more to park their cars at privatized meters isn't that a bonus?
How about toll roads becoming the norm...can you afford them?
Maybe you will be thrown into that private jail because you didn't pay your credit card bill fast enough.
Or there may only be one emergency room a hundred miles away that will take you if all the hospitals are privatized.
And what about that fire department will they let your house burn down because you forgot to pay your dues.
People need to understand that privatized government services are going to cost the tax payers more and will not necessarily be more efficient.  i think its better to support a seemingly ponderous government than an efficient ruthless gang.

Private contractors have to make a profit....any tax dollars that went to PROFIT didn't go to the service you were promised. Government does a lot that doesn't generate a profit, that will never be profitable but does serve the public which it is expected to do.

Public servants own their allegiance to the public. Private workers owe their allegiance to the corporation first.

Think about where you really want your tax dollars going.

See ya next week.

Social Security is strong

Social Security is still strong. The recent Trustee's report that came out this week says there is now $2.7 trillion in the Social Security trust fund, which is $69 billion more than last year, and continues to grow.

To keep Social Security strong it is important to look at where wage growth in the nation goes. Those making above the Social Security cap($110,000) need to be included because that is where the growth is expanding most. A very simple inclusion of those making the most money is all that is needed to continue its historic ability to keep the elderly off the streets. Everyone, not just the poor and middle class should be contributing. Social Security is strong and is the most successful program the government runs. Now you won't read the above in your local media because the powerful want to dismantle the program and privatize it so they can make more money.

i've stated this before but it needs repeating. The philosopher Decartes claimed Cogito ergo sum...I think therefore I am. Descartes made the assumption that he was an individual first and lots of people all over the world buy into this today whole heartedly. It took years but finally other philosophers questioned this idea and asked if so where exactly did you learn the language that you needed to come up with this idea? 

If you spend some time thinking about the above there is only one place where the skills we acquire to help us think could come from. Decartes learned the ability to speak and think from others, without them he would never have been able to articulate I think therefore I am.

This is something that i try to work on constantly. We are in this world with others, we are not alone, we have never been alone. We all work together to improve lives whether we recognize this ability or not. Being in the world with others is fundamental to life on this earth. Martin Buber, another philosopher, observed that we can either be in the world seeing others as people or we can be in the world seeing others as objects. Those who see people as objects want to dismantle Social Security, those that see others as people want to keep it intact. Who are you?

Here's a good one...tax payer money, i'll say that again, tax payer money that directly funds USAID has been used to train disadvantaged workers English in the Philippines so they can man call centers. What this does is use our tax money to train other people in foreign countries to take our jobs. Outsourcing is another word for it but i'll bet you never thought you were paying for it with your tax dollars.

On the hill representatives of both parties Tim Bishop D(NY) and Walter Jones R(NC) wrote a letter to USAID on April 19 expressing dismay and urging its immediate dismantling. You can read the letter here http://timbishop.house.gov/uploads/Letter%20to%20USAID-%20Call%20Centers%20FINAL.pdf

i'm reupholstering the living room furniture and need to get back to my project so this one today is a shorty. i especially like this photo below that i took of the guy and his wares on the corner over by the Barron Spot Mall and if you aren't a swimmer you might not know what the one above is. We swam at Haypenny last week and the pattern on the sea floor was so amazing i had to stop and take a pic. Double click on any of the pics here to get a better look. See ya next week.

Personal Responsibility Wars

Personal responsibility rears its ugly head in almost every conversation i have with conservatives. They seem to think that liberals abhor personal responsibility and strive to have the entire population become dependent upon government. NOT TRUE

The propaganda their party has fed them has been extremely successful in focusing their entire attention upon a very small percentage of poor people that are permanently dependent upon government. Most of the rest are ASSISTED and not completely dependent. The assistance goes to poor, middle class, rich, old and corporations alike. But only the poor get all the negative attention.

DENIAL plays a huge role in the failure to include the powerful, the wealthy and corporations in the demands for personal responsibility. So far the poor are the only ones regarded as not personally responsible. Even though they have no power, they don't make any rules, they live hand to mouth they get all the focus in the bulk e-mails or discussions. It is easier to shift all blame to the poor to keep your eyes off the powerful. The poor are used so you don't witness the looting of the Treasury and the nation by those that can.

DENIAL allows large segments of our population to ignore the mechanisms corporations and the wealthy use to avoid responsibility for crimes against all of us. DENIAL encourages conservatives to continue to close their eyes to their abuses and vote against their best interests. 

A few facts...Social Security belongs to all of us, Medicare belongs to all of us, WE PAY FOR THEM, public schools belong to all of us, the prisons belong to all of us, the beaches, the parks, the airports, roads, railroads, hospitals, and bridges everything this nation has invested in belongs to all of us. WE HAVE ALREADY PAID FOR THEM, Don't give it away. Don't let big money in politics convince you to give away your assets.

ASSISTANCE is what made this country great. The taking away of that assistance is what is contributing to the downward economic spiral in our living standards and our place in the world. The continual demolition of government services is contributing to the stratification of haves and have nots. We are giving away our future to vultures whose only focus is profit and expansion over the entire globe. They could care less what happens to this nation or its citizens but they will use every available government law or subsidy or tax break to expand their power.

Liberals believe in personal responsibility and want conservatives to wake up and start demanding changes in the laws. We need laws that will deny corporations and unions the ability to control our elections through the use of unlimited contributions. We want conservatives to wake up and deny corporations and unions the right to buy politicians to do their bidding in congress. Corporations are artificial, unions are artificial they can't have personal responsibility so it lets them off the hook. The only way to control our democracy is to take it back. Lets return to control of, by and for the people and not by corporations. The Citizens United Case is a Pandora's box, conservatives and liberals need to close it down again.

Stop focusing on the poor, look at the real culprits.

There isn't a family alive that will not at some point in their journey through life help their members. If we as a nation don't start recognizing that we are part of a big American family that needs attention we will loose our democracy and all our assets.

See ya next week.

Unelected Corporate Government

There are few things in this world that we feel we can give away for free unless it is done willingly. Most of us pay taxes because we are members of a nation we want to support. We pay the taxes because we recognize that not everything can be done by the private sector or done as cheaply as the government can do it. We recognize the need to shine in the world and we understand that paying for that privilege involves taxes.

Our history details how we fought for and gained fair wages for labor expended. How we fought hard for the 40 hour week, employee based health insurance, and regulations that scaled back dangerous working conditions. We fought hard for a large middle class. But today, all those things we fought so hard for are being chipped away by Unelected Corporate Government.

Unelected Corporate Government is that entity that lobbies legislators and pays for their campaigns. Unelected Corporate Government is what makes legislators expend all their time in office raising money instead of the hard work necessary to govern this land. Unelected Corporate Government is that entity that expects returns on their monetary investments. Unelected Corporate Government wants to lower wages, eliminate employer health insurance and privatize government services so they can suck every tax payer dollar out of the economy and not be regulated.

Unelected Corporate Government loves wars. Wars let them churn out all the hardware they can imagine and make bundles off it in the process.

Over the past 30 years Unelected Corporate Government has established a bulkhead in Washington DC and it is eroding the middle class we fought so hard to establish. No longer can the man of the family support his tribe on one income. Today it takes two just to make ends meet.

Unelected Corporate Government is responsible for lobbing to eliminate regulations on banks that sent our economy into a tailspin and had taxpayers bail them out. Unelected Corporate Government still argues for relaxed regulations so they can do it again. Any time they can suck the tax payer dollar into their coffers is a win. Anytime they can privatize another part of government is a win and a loss to the middle class.

Our national assets, all those things like beaches, parks, roads, bridges, airports and much much more that are to be enjoyed and used by everyone are being robbed from right under our noses. We have already paid for them but Unelected Corporate Government lobbies to give it to them. In fact some on the conservative side are applauding and supporting the robbery without recognizing they are working against themselves and furthering the evisceration of the middle class.

In order for this nation to retain the balance of income levels there has to be a fair share of the investment needed in this nation to keep us strong. No one group should control the assets. Unelected Corporate Government will build a nation of haves and have nots and we need to wake up and stop them.

Here are some questions to ask and ponder.

If Keystone XL Pipeline will reduce our reliance on oil why does it end at a port?

If trickle down is working why are corporate profits high while the living standards of most

middle class families are going down?

Why do more people die from prescribed opiates than heroin? Who is Big Pharma and why are taxpayers paying for the War on Drugs?

Why should the middle class pay more taxes than the 1%?

Why are 88 million people out of the job force? Is it Obama or is it those jobs that were shipped overseas by the trickle downers(corporations)?

Why does a group(ALEC) financed by Exxon, Wal Mart, the Kochs and other heavy players write laws benefiting their needs all over the country while destroying any power the middle class had to be treated fairly?

Why is the middle class shrinking?

Why are wars today paid for by borrowing but wars in the past were paid for by increased taxes or war bonds?

What are the economic costs of our failed wars?

If you don't question you are complicit in the destruction of the middle class as we know it.

St. Croix Above and Below

i had this whole piece i worked on that maybe i'll publish another day. These past few days have been so outstanding that i thought a photo journal would be more fun and maybe elicit good feelings. The black sea urchins are spawning but i didn't have my camera late yesterday. It is a real treat to watch them perching on top of coral with their spines in the most beautiful positions. Normally you never see them move but yesterday early evening they were beside themselves. They pile up on each other then release this fine white thread of reproductive material that turns into a milky cloud. Its a total orgy out there on the inner reef and then they topple off the coral and go back to their holes. This first picture is looking back at Cane Bay from the water. That smudge is a water spot.

                                      

These century plants all over the island are just so majestic when they bloom. This one at Off The Wall is finally getting its yellow flowers.

 

This is the same file fish trying to hide in the second pic and losing his spots. Isn't his yellow eyelid beautiful?

Black Durgon's are so hard to photograph but i got a few in among the Wrasse.

 Ghost fish, they are so hard to see against the sand even when the water is crystal clear. Actually i think the bigger ones are bone fish but i would like to be corrected if i'm wrong.

 Purple Sea Fan...this ones veins were very distinct yesterday.

More ghost fish...no they are permits.

 This little green was so cooperative yesterday...isn't his shell the most beautiful you have ever seen?
















This was a first for me. In all the years I've been swimming i have never seen two Peacock Flounders together. Double click on it so you can really see how close they are. Spring is here.

You hardly ever see Rust op Twist with no waves. The island has been drying out a bit.

Sunset two nights ago. Very sepia toned.

Sunset half an hour later, same day.

See ya next week.