Making good Mondays is like making coffee -


The week is before us - like the coffee pot - waiting to brew. Making it good is a matter of choice, luck, creativity, patience and acceptance of the outcome.

Currently at Making Good Mondays

Active elements on this page: Occasionally I will publish a new blog post, but I write mostly at other sites.

Saturday, August 22, 2009

A few thoughts about the distortion of representational power of the "bipartisan" Senate negotiators:

Re Speaker Pelosi -- As follow-up to my Posterous bit Thursday here, courtesy of Michael J.W. Stickings' tweet, is a Bloomberg story on what House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is planning when Congress comes back into session. To quote: "U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she won’t be able to pass health-care legislation in her chamber if the measure doesn’t include a government-run insurance plan to compete with private insurers."

The only committee with work left to do is the Senate Finance Committee. What they are considering is some sort of nonprofit cooperative as the public option. The six "negotiators" planned to meet in Washington yesterday at 9:00 PM for about an hour and a half. These senators represent a very small number of the American people. Following are the 2008 estimated state population figures along with the percentage of the total U.S. population (source Wikipedia). The senators include:

  • The Chairman Max Baucus (D-Montana, Est. pop: 967,440 - .31%)
  • Charles Grassley (R-Iowa, Est. pop: 3,002,555 -.98%)
  • Mike Enzi (R-Wyo, Est. pop: 532,668 - .17%)
  • Olympia Snowe (R-Maine, Est. pop: 1,316,456 - .43%)
  • Kent Conrad (D-N.Dakota, Est. pop: 641,481 - .21%)
  • Jeff Bingaman (D-New Mex., Est. pop: 1,984,356 - .64%)
That totals only 8,444,956 people or 2.74% of the total estimated population of the entire United States and its territories. By sheer force of numbers, not to mention politics, there is no way these six could be considered to be representative of all of us or our wishes.

Howard Dean has been unflagging in his optimism regarding the future of truly comprehensive health care reform that includes a public option. He has been seen smiling and firmly pro-reform on several TV news shows recently including Rachel Maddow on Thursday night. Rachel's tweet cited a recent poll supporting the public option that Dean referenced during his interview.

Posted via email from Southwest Postings

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Posted by Carol Gee at 10:10 AM

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References on Spirituality -- Favorites from my old collection

  • "A Return To Love: Reflections On the Principles Of a Course In Miracles" by Marianne Williamson. Harper Collins, 1992
  • "A World Waiting To Be Born: Civility Rediscovered" by M. Scott Peck. Simon and Schuster, 1993
  • "Chicken Soup For the Unsinkable Soul" by Canfield, Hansen and McNamara. Health Communications, 1999
  • "Compassion in Action: Setting Out On the Path of Service" by Ram Dass and Mirabai Bush. Bell Tower Pub., 1992
  • "Creative Visualization" by Shakti Gawain. MIF Books, 1978
  • "Finding Values That Work: The Search For Fulfillment" by Brian O'Connell. Walker & Co., 1978
  • "Fire in the Soul" by Joan Borysenko. Warner Books, 1993
  • "Further Along the Road Less Traveled" by M. Scott Peck. Simon and Schuster, 1993
  • "Guilt Is the Teacher, Love Is the Lesson" by Joan Borysenko. Warner Books, 1990
  • "Inner Simplicity: 100 Ways To Regain Peace and Nourish the Soul" by Elaine St. James. Hyperion, 1995
  • "Insearch:Psychology and Religion" by James Hillman. Spring Pub. 1994
  • "Man's Search For Himself" by Rollo May. Signet Books, 1953
  • "Mythologies" by William Butler Yeats. Macmillan, 1959
  • "Myths, Dreams and Religion" by Joseph Campbell. Spring Pub. 1988
  • "Passion for Life: Psychology and the Human Spirit" by John and Muriel James. Penguin Books, 1991
  • "Peace Is Every Step" by Thich Nhat Hahn. Bantam Books , 1991
  • "The Heroine's Journey" by Mureen Murdock. Random House, 1990
  • "The Hope For Healing Human Evil" by M. Scott Peck. Simon and Schuster, 1983
  • "The House of Belonging" poems by David Whyte. Many Rivers Press, 2004
  • "The Road Less Traveled: A New Psychology of Love, Traditional Values and Spiritual Growth" by M.Scott Peck. Simon and Schuster, 1978
  • "The Soul's Code: In Search Of Character and Calling" by James Hillman. Random House, 1996
  • "The World Treasury of Modern Religious Thought" by Jaroslav Pelikan. Little, Brown & Co., 1990
  • "Unconditional Life" by Deepak Chopra. Bantam Books, 1992
  • "Wherever You Go There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation" by Jon Kabat-Zinn. Hyperion, 1994
  • "Zen Keys: A Guide to Zen Practice" by Thich Nhat Hahn. Doubleday Dell Pub. Group, 1974

About Me

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A retired counselor, I am equal parts Techie and Artist. I am a Democrat who came to the Southwest to attend college. I married, had kids and have lived here all my adult life.