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October 26, 2010

I am a Witch

Image from thewitchdoctor.nl/WiccaRede.jpgSenate candidate Christine O'Donnell told voters, "I'm not a witch." What does that mean?

On "Politically Incorrect" in 1999, O'Donnell said she once went on a date and had a midnight picnic on a satanic altar with blood on it. Recently the Tea Party Republican candidate for senator in Delaware asked, "How many of you didn't hang out with questionable folks in high school?"

I am a witch if you want to call me that. I don't call myself that because people think of witches with long noses with warts who cast evil spells on people. Or they think of them as beautiful girls who control people or regularly battle Satan.

I'm Wiccan. I don't try to control anybody. I don't worship Satan and I don't battle Satan. I don't even believe in Satan. I don't pour blood on an altar either. That sounds gross.

I believe in God. I also believe in Goddess. Nature is a balance between male and female, light and dark, life and death. But nature isn't just opposites. It's many things in between. Almost nothing is totally male or totally female, totally white or totally black. You don't have to be Wiccan to know that.

Wiccans believe, "If it harms none, do as you will." We believe in doing good for the earth and for people. Most Wiccans believe some version of the Threefold Law. That means that what you do returns to you, good for good and bad for bad. So it's foolish to do bad! We aren't "questionable folks."

There are many different types of witches. There are some witches and other Pagans who do harmful things. There are some Catholics and Protestants and Buddhists who do harmful things. That doesn't mean their religion is bad. There are many who do good for people.

If you want to learn more about Wicca you can see http://lorien.loveshade.org/wicca

To see an article about Christine O'Donnell saying she's not a witch, go to http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39515132/ns/politics-decision_2010/?GT1=43001

The picture is from http://thewitchdoctor.nl/WiccaRede.jpg No threat to its copyright is intended.

Opinions expressed by an individual member of The Loveshade Family do not necessarily reflect the views of the entire family.

Posted by Lorien Loveshade at 08:36 PM | | Comments (15)

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October 19, 2010

Obama's Forgotten Tax Cut

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XhO0eYIIKo8/S75gokDAriI/AAAAAAAAAes/EQ54AHa8yX4/s1600/teapartysign1sm1.jpg Sometimes a plan works too well.

President Barack Obama inherited a major Recession.  People have forgotten that some economists were fearful America could be headed to a Recession that could come close to or even equal the Great Depression. That didn't happen.

In large part, that's because the Obama Administrator quickly and quietly implemented some radical changes to boost the economy.

One of the radical things the administration did was give 95% of working American families a tax cut.  But they did it subtly.  The idea was that with subtlety Americans would slowly start spending more which would boost the economy.

Even the Wall Street Journal, which had been highly critical, finally said the economic programs in total worked.

But Americans have a short attention span, and also expect instant results.  More and more voters are forgetting that Obama inherited the recession.  And many don't know that the recession officially ended very quickly, in June 2009, a few months after Obama took office.

But in the same way the Great Depression ended in America long before the average worker saw significant results, many people today don't see it.  The end of a recession means things are starting to get better, not that they're completely fixed.  Healing takes time.

I was in an automobile collision a couple months back, and had surgery shortly after to fix my broken finger.  My finger now looks straight instead of twisted.  X-rays show the bone is healing quite well, and the muscles of my finger are much more flexible and stronger than they were.

But it's actually harder to heal a finger than it is an arm or a leg, and I'm still not fully recovered.  It could take months or even over a year before my finger gets back to where it was.  The same thing happens with the economy; after corrective surgery, it takes time to heal too.

And people forget.  In a poll, only 10% of people realized that their taxes went down since Obama became president.  Many think they went up.

The evidence is that the administration’s subtlety helped stop and even reverse what could have been a much worse recession.  But unfortunately, being subtle might help the economy, but it doesn't get noticed when it comes to elections.

Sources

"From Obama, the Tax Cut Nobody Heard Of" (New York Times article by Michael Cooper, from October 18, 2010) http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/19/us/politics/19taxes.html?_r=1&no_interstitial

"Obama's 95% Illusion" (Wall Street Journal article critical of the tax cut, from October 13, 2008) http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122385651698727257.html Recession over in June 2009 (Wall Street Journal reporting the end of the Recession, from September 20, 2010) http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2010/09/20/nber-recession-ended-in-june-2009/

Image is from http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XhO0eYIIKo8/S75gokDAriI/AAAAAAAAAes/EQ54AHa8yX4/s1600/teapartysign1 No threat to its copyright is intended.

Opinions of individual members of The Loveshade Family do not necessarily reflect those of the entire family.

Posted by Alden Loveshade at 11:58 PM | | Comments (13)

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October 14, 2010

Don't Ask, Don't Tell the Judge

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:US_1stCavDiv_Fallujah,_Nov_12,_2004.jpg U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said a judge suddenly stopping the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy could have dire consequences.

But another question is what consequences has the law had? Thousands of people in America's military were removed from their positions when their sexual orientation was discovered; at least 750 of them had "mission critical" training, meaning the mission would not succeed without it.

The primary concern that's been expressed is that heterosexual men could be housed in the same barracks and use the same showers as homosexual men. And yet the government has not made a law barring homosexual teenagers from attending junior high or high school with heterosexuals. The military is not a den of purity; in fact with the low rates of enlistment it's been giving waivers to hundreds of convicted felons. Their crimes include assault and making terrorist threats. But a faithful or even celibate gay or lesbian is kicked out.

U.S. District Judge Virginia Phillips in Riverside, California, recently put a stop on the policy, which doesn't allow questioning service people to see if they are homosexual, but removes them if it's discovered. Contrary to the spirit of the original measure, some military personnel conducted investigations to discover the orientation of some of its people. The judge's decision was that the law is unconstitutional.

The judge can be asked by the Justice Department for a stay, or temporary freeze, of her ruling. This would put the Obama administration in the very uncomfortable position of defending a law it opposes.

America's discrimination is rare among its allies. Of the top six NATO nations with the most military presence in Afghanistan, all of them allow open homosexuals--except the U.S.

The U.S. Congress had recently voted against removing the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy that was instituted in the early days of the Clinton Administration. One of Clinton's first priorities was to end the military's discrimination against homosexuals, who were not allowed to serve. The policy that was instituted was not what Clinton had said he wanted, but was a compromise measure as there was a great deal of opposition in the U.S. Senate and Congress against Clinton's plan of non-discrimination.

Ironically, catering to people's homophobia is not likely to help it. Would a man who's afraid of homosexuals tend to more afraid if he knew specifically who was homosexual, or if he feared that any man in his entire unit might be?

Sources

www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/military/jan-june09/military_06-29.html

news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20101013/wl_csm/331758_1

news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101013/ap_on_re_us/us_gays_in_military

Image is a work of the U.S. federal government, and thus in the public domain, according to en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:US_1stCavDiv_Fallujah,_Nov_12,_2004.jpg. It is from upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b6/US_1stCavDiv_Fallujah,_Nov_12,_2004.jpg 

For other entries on "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," click on loveshade.org/blog-mt/mt-search.fcgi?IncludeBlogs=1&search=dont+ask 

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Addition: Later on October 14, the Obama administration asked the judge to stay her ruling while the government prepares an appeal. news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101016/ap_on_re_us/us_gays_in_military

Second Addition: The Pentagon agreed to not discriminate against homosexuals, but the military has recruiters warning potential recruits that things could change back.

Posted by The Loveshade Family at 12:01 PM | | Comments (13)

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