Choices

What about choices we make when we don't make a choice? I fail to sufficiently educate myself on the origins of raw materials that make up my electronics and, as such, most likely hasn't blood on my hands. When does "I didn't know" stop being an exuse? When does, "I didn't do it" no longer apply? Perhaps if every electronic device comes about at the cost of spilled blood we should stop looking the other way...

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Mental Health

While the stigma attached to mental health its eroding (perhaps an upside to Oprah & Dr. Phil?), there its still an apparent hesitation for people to express a need for, or acknowledge as normal, mental health services. This should be as abnormal to us today as it would be for one to declare she is going to heal a broken leg by "just walking it off."

Mental health services are an important function of a healthy society. Disregarding the need for assistance in areas of mood disorders, attention/motivation disorders, grief/marriage/general counseling/therapy, etc... is reckless and detrimental. Ostracism, violence, even suicide and more are just some results from our society's inability to seriously consider the positive mental health of its citizens. No one should feel embarrassed about these services, not should it be considered exceptional out even out of the ordinary. This should be reversed: just like dental visits and physicals, it should be part of one's regular health routine to have some form of mental health service a couple times a year. Even the simple act of during down to talk out how things are going can carry a vast improvement in one's mental AND physical health, such as lower stress, lower blood pressure, and a healthier heart. Persons engaged in some form of mental health activities are also, on average, better equipped to handle traumatic events such as changes in socioeconomic status or the deaths of friend and family.

So let's work hard to drop the aversion to mental health services. Support the inclusion of mental health care in insurance plans. Tell elected officials that you care deeply about the well-being of our society and will expect her to treat mental health measures and funding accordingly. Anything less is to damage the fabric of our communities and society. It is time to recognize such a simple yet vitally important fact.

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Pay Cuts & Term Limits

Here's an idea: Lower the pay of every elected position to a living wage (if not minimum) and limit persons to two terms in any office.

There is something wrong with us as the public when we allow elected positions to pay higher wages than we can earn at decent jobs. There its an argument that the pay matches the work. Bullocks. Politicians should get at the end of the line if there's not enough to go around. Look at our teachers: there is a group that should swap wages with politicians. We stand idly by and are complicit in this utter disrespect and disgrace. It had also ben argued that higher wages are needed to attract the best and the brightest to elected positions. If they are running for the compensation, they are neither the best nor the brightest and shame on us.

Two term limits allows one term to get one's bearings and one term to actually do something. Two terms for all keeps others from monopolizing the experience and bullying newcomers with their "experience" (read: cronyism). There are 360 million people in the United States and our founders were farmers, soldiers, shop keepers, etc... We can and SHOULD expect "average" people to perform to similar results today.

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Empire Avenue

I can now be found on Empire Avenue trading my influence under the ticker (MoRE). Hopefully this will be fun. Out of all the things I have tried online over the years, only Facebook seems to have stuck. Will the novelty of a stock market style Facebook be enough? My hunch is that if the only draw to Empire Avenue is that it is the game itself (as opposed to Facebook being a platform that allows for games to be played on/in it), perhaps Empire Avenue will not last as a contender in the social networking ring.

Oregon Beginnings

Time to start fresh in the Willamette Valley region of Oregon. This place is gorgeous.

Return of the Blog

The ability to post from my phone, including pictures, my restore this big to an active state.

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Begin Again

I have been away for too long and expect to have lost even the most ardent of readers. I hope to revitalize this space in the coming weeks. Fear not, it is still a place to post items of personal interest, so if you liked it before, you should like what's in store.

Be well!