Howdy, my fine friends!

Having just recovered from a near death by turkey experience, I find myself plunged headlong, body and stomach, into another period of holiday excesses of food and spirit. In addition to the culinary trials of this season, all of my known children are male and have birthdays in December. I am hit with the double whammy of one young man turning 18 and the other, 16. Let this be fair warning to all who venture out on the highways of East Tennessee! In the next few days, my youngest will become legally able to attack the highways and low-ways of Greater Glen Alice, Tennessee, in a vehicle weighing thousands of pounds and with enough horsepower to attain greater than legal speed. I have warned him of the severe consequences of misbehavior, but we'll have to see what happens.

We do our homework and take our chances, eh? Watch out for him, please?


This time of year has religion everywhere. Too bad! We could just celebrate the cycles of our planet and the seasonal blessings we share. WE have such great capacity for enjoyment, but we rarely use it to the fullest. I have thought that, Of all the directions we could have evolved, all of them require the capacity to enjoy our very existance. Every creature, plant, and lowly fungus must receive reward on some level for surviving to the next instant of time. Otherwise it wouldn't survive for very long, unless, like my Irish grandmother for example, we become able to enjoy ourselves only in misery? Why some folks enjoy a good cry escapes me.

Over the millenia, humans have created mythologies and religions to explain why things suck sometimes. There should be a happier way, but with religion, things get to be blamed on this or that diety and we are off the hook. By the way, just as a point of discussion, consider that a belief system is called a religion if it corresponds to your own, and a mythology if it doesn't.

Wouldn't it be nice if we could set aside our predjudices each year at this time and have honest discussions about religion? Instead, we get all the pomp and circumstance, and watch as religious designees ceremoniously wave around the symbol of an execution by the state. Personally, I think Brother Paul royally screwed up a fairly nice religion when his surrogates supplanted the fish symbol with that of the cross. We went from a symbol of sharing and giving and life... to a symbol of vengence and death. I reject this. I prefer the fish and actually detest the very idea represented by the cross as it is presented in today's fundie churches.

Sorry for those who are offended. If you are offended, incidentally, ask yourself exactly why? By the way, Did you know that "Jesus Christ" is a title and not a name? I don't know what his name was but a literal translation of "jesus" is something like "one who has olive oil in his hair". He was quite the dashing figure in those times and had a pretty good message, too! Too bad the so called religious right has squandered that message. Too bad the rest of us let them gain control of our Nation. We had our chance to lead the whole wide world into a peaceful time like Jesus wanted and we didn't. Perhaps we still can...I hope so, and that is I why I write.

Today, on a point by point basis, our nation"s leadership bears a near total resemblance to the Pharisees of biblical times. Jesus was a victim of torture and execution not an advocate of such vile things as is our President. Even so, there is hope. The followers of the one who had olive oil in his hair were definite underdogs and they came through.

Right now today in America, there are, at a minimum, 57,288,974 people in our country who do not want it going in the direction it is headed. A mere 2.8% more than that voted for Bush. That means that we only have to change the minds of less than 1.5% of the voters to win next time. (Jeff, you pay attention this time) That is a very close election...The closets ever for a war time President. In the mean time we must become the loyal opposition in a big way. America does not exist to serve the President...It is the other way around, and boy does this administration have it backwards.

Fifty Seven million people feeling the same way you do is a lot! The other side does not have that many hungry lions. So folks, This is not the time to give up, but just the opposite.

America, how will you respond?

Peace on Earth, Good will toward mankind?

Courage!

Steve