Grief

I am not grieving for Michael Jackson--I didn't like him or his music. And I don't really identify with the culture that makes a pop star death a major news story. But that's just me. There are things that I do find a profound sense of sorrow over. Here are some of them:

1. I will always miss my parents; they were such good people who lived their hard lives with courage and dignity. (And I miss a culture that knows what courage and dignity are.)
2. I mourn for the loss of the beaches and salt marshes of Galveston where I grew up and all the birds and wildlife that lived there. The huge beach houses that displaced them make me want to vomit.
3. I long for the days when trash wasn't every place you look--plastic bottles, cans, bags, garbage.
4. I am almost paralyzed by an overwhelming sense of helplessness as I see the beauty of the earth strip mined and polluted.
5. I can't even bear to think about the animals whose lives are processed in our food factories.

Pop stars don't really come close.

The Throw-Away Society

I was thinking today about how many people are just thrown away in our fragmented society. There are so few extended families, so little community to lend a hand, to be a model, to nurture virtue. We value rugged individualism at a cost of a sense of belonging; not just a loss of belonging to family or community but also a loss of belonging to a continuum of time and place.

We have hardened our hearts to the plight of animals and the pillaging of the environment because there is no feeling of connection. We think in linear terms--beginning-->ending. Perhaps it is time to start thinking cyclically. We are all connected, we are all important, nothing is really disposable. Everything is part of a whole and it is all precious.

Sarah Palin

She is talking in front of cameras again. God does seem to be favoring the Democrats prayers.

Numbers

467,000 people lost their jobs in the single month of June. The unemployment rate is 9.5% which means that almost 1 out of every 10 workers in America is unemployed. I keep hearing that the economy is getting better but how can that be if more and more people are unemployed and lose their ability to purchase goods and services??

$38,211 left to pay on the mortgage. I won't relax until the mortgage is paid off, a year of expenses is in the bank, and the new vehicle fund is complete. Let's just pray we all stay well and fully employed.

100+ The temperature this week has been 100 degrees or more all week and more heat is expected. It was like this in 1980 when the heat started the first of June and never let up all summer. The grass is parched and brown with only the areas around the trees and beds aroun the house green wherre JMM has faithfully watered. I keep the thermostat up at 80 and fans going to keep reasonably cool but I am certainly not looking forward to the electricity bill.

Thought for the Day:

The first panacea for a mismanaged nation is inflation of the currency; the second is war. Both bring a temporary prosperity; both bring a permanent ruin. But both are the refuge of political and economic opportunists.

Ernest Hemingway (1898-1961) American Writer.

More Madoff Musing

While the big news is that Bernie was sentenced to 150 years, I'm more interested in what happens with Ruth. Of course, there is the question of what did Ruth know and when did she know it??? It is, however, the daily living questions that I am hoping that the tabloids will report on.

1. Where to live? She will be living on the returns of $2.5million which should bring $100-125,000 per year. No way could she continue to live in Manhattan--COL is too high and the unforgiving attitudes of the Manhattanites who are now even poorer than she is would make living there very uncomfortable. Perhaps, Florida where the prices of condos are exceptionally low just now. OTOH, living in Florida would make it difficult to visit Bernie who will be somewhere in the Northeast.

2. She will need investment advise on the best way to make her $2.5 million last another 20-25 years. Who could she trust with her life savings??

3. That brings to mind, she will need someone to do her 2009 income tax returns; I doubt if TurboTax will suffice. Can you just imagine the accountant she asks to do her taxes???

4. What if she gets sick? Does she have health insurance? Medicare? Medicare supplemental insurance? Long term care insurance?

5. Can she draw her own or Bernie's Social Security?

5. What will she drive? and can she afford car insurance, maintenance, gasoline, and license fees?

6. Will her children help her or do they have financial problems or job loss problems of their own.

One thing is for sure, life as she knew it is over.

Goal 2009 Update #12

We were able to pay $4,000 extra principal with the July 1 house payment. That brings us down to $38,243. The really notable thing though is that if we had only paid the regular payment with no extra principal, we would still owe $268,184. Think of all the interest that we have not paid!!

Thought for the Day:

Well done is better than well said. - Ben Franklin

A Conglomeration

Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson is dead at age 50 and you would think something important had happened with all the media hype. He was a popular singer 20 years ago. Since then he has been a weird recluse who appears occassionally to have facial surgery or to be sued. I guess it has been a slow news week and the media need something to stir things up. TSM said that CBS devoted the entire evening news to it; glad I don't have television.

Hummingbirds
I think we only have one resident hummer this year--at least, I only see one at a time--a beautiful Ruby Throated. He comes to the feeder frequently and sometimes I see him working the salvia blooms. I wonder if the drought is the reason that we only have one this year.

Record Heat
It is hot, very hot--104 on Wednesday. 95 days until cooler weather...

Thought for the Day:

Besides the noble art of getting things done, there is the noble art of leaving things undone. The wisdom of life consists of the elimination of non essentials. Lin Yutang