White Guilt Should Die

I have never once seen in person any sort of "whites only" sign in relation to anything - rest rooms, water fountains, or bus seating. Nor have I ever gone to school where students were segregated by color. I've worked my entire work life with people of all races.

So why in the hell should I feel guilty over slavery or the policies of segregation from decades and decades ago?!?!

In my Entrecard browsing I came across a post about Martin Luther King Jr day from one of my jewelry blog stops. It was definitely interesting and I can't imagine growing up in those times - and I hope that I would be as adamantly against the segregation of people based on the color of their skin as I am against the supposed guilt I should feel for those actions now.

As a child, the blog author actually had it right, while her father had it wrong:

"When I was about 12 yrs old I complained to my father that since I hadn't been alive during slavery in America, and that neither I or my family members had participated in the segregation of blacks, why did I or we have to pay the price in the world that we lived in?

My father very wisely and sternly explained that as long as I had a white face in a world where blacks continued to be segregated, where prejudice against blacks still prevailed then, I too, would bare the guilt and the shame of those before me."

Her father was WRONG! And I believe quite cruel for telling a little girl that she should feel shame and guilt based on sins perpetrated by those that came before her.

I can understand if he'd explained that (at that time) blacks were still being segregated and so their "forcing" (not in a negative way, mind you) her into black schools and experiences was their form of showing how wrong it was. I totally get that and it was an admirable action they took in those times. But doing so out of guilt or shame was wrong. Do it because it's the right thing to do to support equal rights (not special rights...equal rights).

And I think we're pretty much there. Yes, there are still issues and racists do exist. But they are shunned. ACTUAL racists...not this racial political crap where if you disagree with affirmative action you're labeled a racist. Or if you disagree with The One you're clearly a member of the KKK.

No, I mean actual racist institutions where I would not allowed to sit with a person of a different color skin. Fifty years ago that would be frowned upon and in some cases illegal. Now it is unheard of.

Of course, there are still places that promote segregation and the separation of the races, but since they are politically correct we don't talk about them. You certainly wouldn't see a Caucasian Fund or a college that promotes their "white" history. So we obviously aren't all the way to MLK's dream of judging people by the content of their character instead of the color of their skin.

But I think we're getting there. And my son will NOT be made to feel guilty for sins of people before him. If his teachers ever try to pull that crap I will go ballistic like a mama bear. No one is going to try to make him feel shame for being white. That is wrong! Just as wrong as someone looking down on someone who has black, brown, red, or yellow skin (who came up with 'yellow' skin for Asians??? or red for Indians? My cousins are Asian and they aren't yellow...I have yellower skin then they do!).

He will also learn that while politically correct racial politicians bitch and moan about supposed modern day grievances, there are actual slaves still being bought and sold in our world. The U.S. spilled blood to end the practice here but other countries still practice this horrific human abuse today. There are ACTUAL guilty and shameful people out there in the world. Why don't we try to solve that problem instead of creating imaginary ones here.

Clearly, We Need a New Law

I mean, if people screw something up it's up to the government to fix it right?

So, if the government screws up they clearly need to create more laws to govern themselves. Right?

The best line from this article?

"When a mistake happens, "It doesn't hurt them, but it doesn't help them. What they want is what they're there for,""

Really? It doesn't hurt them?!?! Injecting someone with Insulin instead of the H1N1 vaccine could very well hurt them. What if they're diabetic and already have a slightly low blood sugar?!? What if they don't KNOW that they are diabetic or borderline?

Good grief, what a stupid statement. Insulin isn't just sugar water. I had to give myself shots for several months while I was pregnant and it most certainly is a big deal.

Maybe school nurses shouldn't be in charge of administering vaccines. But then again, a Dr's office is just as likely to screw things up. My Dr's Office gave me an expired vaccine several years ago. And if I'd been upset enough I could have changed doctors.

But don't worry...these types of mistakes won't ever happen when government is in control of ALL health care. And if they do...you can always switch to ... oh wait ...

Apparently I'm Poisoning My Baby

Warning: Strong language is included in this post...I'm not a fan of the "f" word but I feel it's warranted.

I'm super sensitive about criticism heaped on moms for feeding their children formula. Frankly, without formula my baby would have just about starved to death.

This comes up because I got a survey from some company that I'd never heard of so I did a quick online search and their name came up in a mothering forum. The thread was instructing other moms to NOT fill out the survey because it was from an EVIL formula company trying to figure out how to market to breast feeding moms.


First of all, if I had decided beforehand to formula feed that is no one's business but mine. As it was I was desperate to breast feed and the guilt I felt for not being able to (in combination with post pardum) had me suicidal.

One person called formula POISON!

"I have gotten that survey a couple of times. I answered it honestly, and then I wrote, "formula is poison" in the margins of all of the pages just to get my point across that I would not use any of the crap."

Oh For Fuck's Sake.

This just pisses me off so much. I felt SO incredibly guilty for not giving my baby the "best" nutrition that I could. Nature just didn't want to allow me that pleasure (and I'm not going to go into all the crap we went through...we tried everything!). And for some breast feeding Nazi to judge me over something that I had absolutely no control of is disgusting and malicious. And to say that formula is "crap" and "poison" is cruel.

I KNOW that breast feeding would be the best for my baby (and God knows I tried) but he seems to be growing just fine and is extremely healthy (for goodness sake he's already wearing 6-9 month clothing and he's not even 4 months old!). The pain and sorrow I went through in his first three weeks were hell ... even my lactation nurse finally said that I should move on and enjoy my baby. Just thinking about that time brings tears to my eyes. And you know what? The moment I stopped trying to force my boobs to "work" I started sleeping better and truly enjoying my new little one...and went back to my "normal" self.

Does this look like a little boy who is malnourished or being fed poison?!?

It's All About Faith

Hubby and I went on a date on Sunday. We were going between seeing Avatar or The Book of Eli and we went with Eli. I'm SO glad we did!

It was an incredible movie...truly inspiring and moving. And violent. :) It's definitely not going to be for everyone. But for folks like hubby and I who are Christians but also watch some pretty violent shows and movies it was the perfect mix. Medved gave it a so-so review, based mostly on the violence...and it WAS violent. It showed some things quite graphically and there were several mentions of cannibalism. But it really all worked with the tone of the situation they were in.

Oh...just a warning...PETA must HATE this movie because the opening scene involves the killing of a cat. It was a little disturbing, but it really does set the tone for the horror that humanity has fallen into. And if you can just move on past that (it was tough for me) and remember the type of situation the world has fallen into you'll be fine.

Having a Christian - and a bad-ass Christian - as the hero and main character is incredibly refreshing. The premise is that he's guarding the last Bible in the world, after a massive apocalyptic event (after which they apparently blamed Christianity and burned all the bibles), and has to deliver it in order to save humanity, which has sunk into the most base instincts and actions. Some of the comments from the main villain were sort of slams on Christians (being weak minded and needing to be controlled) but really the whole thing revolves around the faith of one man who follows God's word. Denzel was amazing.

I won't give away the ending but it was a huge shocker! HUGE! And seriously...I had tears in my eyes. I would love to see it again and will probably buy it on DVD when it comes out.

I Love Electricity

Our power went out last night around 1 a.m. I cannot emphasize how much I love having power. I don't see how people got through life without it oh so many years ago. When our power went out when I was younger, I loved it. It was fun and exciting (and no school was always a hopeful possibility).

Now I just want my lights, TV, and computer. I took Marshal to Fred Meyer just to get out of the house and get some distractions. He was great ... looking at all the colors of the packaging on the shelves. It was adorable.

I cannot even explain how much I adore him. Even though he's going through a very fussy phase - he's teething and there's lots of screaming - he just makes my heart ache with love. I wish there was something more I could do to relieve his pain. We're using teething tablets and tylenol. But only sparingly and mostly around evening when it's bed time. He seems a lot fussier then, but yesterday he screamed for 45 minutes straight when grandma baby sat.

When the power came back around 5 p.m. this evening I literally jumped up and down in excitement. I can not imagine my stress at putting my baby to bed in the dark (with candles and kerosene lanterns) and trying to sleep with the generator running. And it just now occurred to me that we could have plugged in a couple of lamps. Duh. We just had the fridge and our neighbor's fridge plugged in...oh and the coffee pot and toaster. The essentials. :)

It's back to work tomorrow. I'm completely swamped and have to start working on my desk notes and training schedule. Last day count down - April 23! And in the mean time I need to study my butt off and get my Insurance License. SO exciting!

Run Amok

Amok? Is that how you spell it?

Anyway...just heard a report on the radio that a "blue ribbon" panel charged with investigating the Fort Hood shooting said that the military should not just be concerned with Muslim extremism, but with religious extremism of all kinds.

*sigh*

Move along. Nothing to see here. PC remains the name of the game.

Great Analogy

As I work from home today, I'm listening to the radio and Rush just gave a great example in regards to punishing success.

If I punish my son for getting an A, because it's not fair that he got a better grade than the neighbor kid who got a C, by saying that they both get Bs...what am I going to get in the future? It won't be a son who strives for an A and it won't be a neighbor boy who strives for a B. It'll be two kids who work less to achieve little.

The same is true of businesses. If you PUNISH success by raising taxes, increasing fees and regulations, and demonizing businesses that make a profit...you will NOT encourage growth in our economy. You will get fewer businesses and fewer individuals who strive to achieve through risk, development, new products, and success.

I understand that the Democrats really don't care about the little people...they care mostly about their own power (and let me add that most of those in the "elite" GOP have the same attitude - it's all about remaining in office...principles be damned). Through any means necessary.