It is about time I laid my core values out, clearly and concisely, for my friends. It may appear odd to many that I am able to revere both my religion, with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day-Saints (Mormon), and believe so passionately in the Democratic party. Many times, I have been asked, "How can you be a Mormon, and vote liberally?"...and, "How can you be a registered Democrat, and preach Christianity?". I will answer these questions once and for all.
1. As a Democrat, I believe that it is necessary to care for the downtrodden, the poor, and the weary, the sickly, the elderly, and the mentally incapacitated. I believe with all of my heart, mind and soul that issues such as health care, social security, welfare, and education should have proper funding from the government. It literally sickens me to see Republican after Republican leave these programs in their wake of destruction, simply because the people using these programs do not have a voice. If one has properly followed the teachings found in the New Testament, one will discern for himself that Jesus Christ Himself spent His time with the poor, the weary, the down trodden, and the helpless. He gave His time, and His miracles to the people who needed a voice, because their government turned a deaf ear upon them in their time.
a. On Health care in America- what Democrats propose is a socialist approach to reforming the system, making health care available to all...and allowing the federal government to dissolve the bands which have held back nearly two-thirds of Americans from feeling the benefits of health insurance.
b. On Education in America- "You may give a man a fish, and feed him for a day, but if you teach a man to fish, you can feed him for his lifetime." Education is key. It is the only thing that will save us in the end. Public schools are in desperate need of money for teachers salaries, school supplies, and books. College students are in desperate need of more funds available with federal grants and student loans. The only way to ensure a brighter tomorrow for America is by ensuring a good education for that next generation.
2. As a Democrat, I believe that the We, the American people, should pay taxes, and see the benefit of using a portion of our money for the greater good of our country. Yes...we work hard. Yes...people give money to charitable organizations. But it is not enough. It is not enough to count on the wealthy to give to the poor, because in all reality, there are not enough good people in the world. There are too many sick, afflicted, and over worked people...many of which will never see the benefit of these wonderful, yet few and far between charitable acts.
3. As a Democrat, I believe that abortion is a woman's choice. I stand firmly behind the Supreme Court Decision for Roe Vs. Wade. I think that victims of rape, victims of incest, and mothers whose health is endangered should be able to obtain legal abortions. I do not want to ever see the country fall into a time again when there are back-alley abortions, and black market doctors. While my personal religious convictions do not condone using abortion as a birth control, I do not believe there will ever be an acceptable way to regulate those that are using the right to abortion as a means of foregoing trauma after a rape or incest, and those that choose to use abortion as a means of birth control. I am Pro- Choice, because with all of my heart, I know and believe that the God that I worship would not take away agency from His people.
4. As a Democrat, I believe in the middle class. Having studied our history and the history of many nations, it became undeniably clear to me that without a strong middle class, a country will eminently collapse on itself. I align my views with the Democratic party in that we MUST strengthen our middle class in order to preserve our glorious Country, and prevent a revolution and uprising of the lower class citizens against the wealthy highest class. Look at any point in history, whether it be the fall of the Roman Empire in 630, or the French Revolution of 1789...and see that when the middle class jobs were eliminated, the country ceased to be successful economically.
5. As a Democrat, I believe that we must end the war in Iraq as quickly as we can, and as responsibly as is humanly possible. Bottom Line- This war was brought upon us under the false pretenses that we were fighting for something that happened on September 11, 2001 in New York City. Bin Laden was not, and has not been in Iraq...and anyone who may believe that there is any tie whatsoever to our troops in Iraq and Sept. 11 is a fool. I support the troops we have there; and I want them to stop losing their lives for a dead cause...for we will never win a religious battle with a country that has held onto the same principles, may they be for good or for bad, for thousands of years. I want my friends, my neighbors, and my family to come home safely, and with as little battle scars as possible. Too many have already laid down their lives.
6. As a Democrat, (and many of my Christian constituates will disagree with me), I see no problem with people that have chosen a homosexual lifestyle receiving the same benefits that I will receive as a heterosexual. Again, I have a really hard time taking away rights from my fellow Americans, regardless of my religious belief system. While I was raised that "Marriage should be between a man and a woman", and under the eyes of God, I do not believe that my homosexual friends should not be allowed at the death bed of a loved one, to share tax breaks with their life partner, or to share a civil union with the person they have chosen to spend the rest of their life with.
7. Lastly, I am a Democrat, because being registered as so, I am able to get up every morning, look myself in the eye, and declare to myself, "Tiffany, you've done your best, and you've given you're all." For me, The Democratic Party stands for honesty, for change, and for the integrity we need to get this wonderful and glorious country back on track.
In God We Trust.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Inspired?
Man oh man...today Sissy and I took a walk down memory lane...and honestly...I am not sure if I wanted take that walk.
Started out okay. We went to the Black Bear Diner, where I used to hang out in high school, and where half the people I knew in high school are still employed (sadly). I seriously felt like I was 16 again...I even got that same anxious feeling well up in me after I ordered the usual (which they still remembered...scary!)...that I may not make it back for the 1:17 pm lunch bell. I almost looked for my old Jeep when we got outside. Almost.
Sissy then decided she wanted to get an ice cream cone and go up to the fish hatchery down the street. I literally have not been up to the fish hatchery since I was about 12. The nostalgia that coursed over me as we pulled up to the parking lot in front of the ancient "Sisson Museum" was refreshing. We happily paid our 20 cents for fish food (sick)...and were on our way to the ponds. I half expected ghosts of my past (my mom, Ashley Lindholm, Laura Guill,and KIM!) to come around the back of the old museum any minute. Interesting half hour.
When Sissy had her fill of feeding the abnormally large rainbow trouts that populate the hatchery, we got in the car, and drove up the mountain to Panther Meadows. Yet another place I haven't been since I was about 17. I used to drive up to that Vista Point about once a week with my high school boyfriend, Clint, and look at the shooting stars. I almost felt like I was violating a sacred memory by going up there during the day.
Almost every place I went today...I had an overly anxious feeling. I think really, it was because that's what Mount Shasta was for me...a place full of teenage angst. I was always anxious about something...cheerleading practice, my relationship with Clint, my curfew, my friends...or whatever else happened to be going on. Even coming down Everitt Memorial Highway, I couldn't just relax....I might be late for something. What...I am not even sure of anymore.
I don't have this overly anxious feeling in Chicago...which on the hole may sound odd. Chicago is supposed to be the most stressful city on America...at least according to Rutgers. How is it that Mount Shasta, a place that is supposed to be "A little Heaven on Earth" (according to the lame tourist bureau)get me so worked up, when I can relax in CHICAGO.
Maybe it's the feeling of getting lost among the millions of Chicago citizens...maybe it's the knowledge that nobody really cares what I am up to...or maybe it's just the wonderful Midwest attitude that really completes me. Either way...I'd rather be dancing in the rain in Chicago, then stuck here in Mount Shasta the way so many of my friends have chosen to be.
Until next time-
Started out okay. We went to the Black Bear Diner, where I used to hang out in high school, and where half the people I knew in high school are still employed (sadly). I seriously felt like I was 16 again...I even got that same anxious feeling well up in me after I ordered the usual (which they still remembered...scary!)...that I may not make it back for the 1:17 pm lunch bell. I almost looked for my old Jeep when we got outside. Almost.
Sissy then decided she wanted to get an ice cream cone and go up to the fish hatchery down the street. I literally have not been up to the fish hatchery since I was about 12. The nostalgia that coursed over me as we pulled up to the parking lot in front of the ancient "Sisson Museum" was refreshing. We happily paid our 20 cents for fish food (sick)...and were on our way to the ponds. I half expected ghosts of my past (my mom, Ashley Lindholm, Laura Guill,and KIM!) to come around the back of the old museum any minute. Interesting half hour.
When Sissy had her fill of feeding the abnormally large rainbow trouts that populate the hatchery, we got in the car, and drove up the mountain to Panther Meadows. Yet another place I haven't been since I was about 17. I used to drive up to that Vista Point about once a week with my high school boyfriend, Clint, and look at the shooting stars. I almost felt like I was violating a sacred memory by going up there during the day.
Almost every place I went today...I had an overly anxious feeling. I think really, it was because that's what Mount Shasta was for me...a place full of teenage angst. I was always anxious about something...cheerleading practice, my relationship with Clint, my curfew, my friends...or whatever else happened to be going on. Even coming down Everitt Memorial Highway, I couldn't just relax....I might be late for something. What...I am not even sure of anymore.
I don't have this overly anxious feeling in Chicago...which on the hole may sound odd. Chicago is supposed to be the most stressful city on America...at least according to Rutgers. How is it that Mount Shasta, a place that is supposed to be "A little Heaven on Earth" (according to the lame tourist bureau)get me so worked up, when I can relax in CHICAGO.
Maybe it's the feeling of getting lost among the millions of Chicago citizens...maybe it's the knowledge that nobody really cares what I am up to...or maybe it's just the wonderful Midwest attitude that really completes me. Either way...I'd rather be dancing in the rain in Chicago, then stuck here in Mount Shasta the way so many of my friends have chosen to be.
Until next time-
Monday, October 13, 2008
Colder than a...
B!
Holy hell. If my parent's could keep the house any colder, it'd be Siberia. And too bad they didn't show me how to control this new thermostat, AND I can't find the remote to the stupid fireplace system. Cool. I'd make like a caveman and just chop wood or something, but THAT's not going to happen because my dad wanted to be able to "start the fireplace from bed". Nice theory- but when you don't have the remote, you're basically not starting anything.
Maybe it is a good thing that I can't find all of the heat monitors...it might be better to have this place at 60 than have to face my dad when he got the electric bill at the end of the month...
Anyway. Today was cold. The only thing that made it worth it, is the fact that since my parents are COMPLETELY out of the country, I am totally staying in the master bedroom. ha ha...I have already taken 3 baths in their huge bath tub. I really wish I just had unlimited funds, and could get a huge soaker tub with jets. It's basically the best. Seriously. I can't think of anything better.
Another random weird thing- My parent's got a new yard maintenance guy. Which, hey, is great in theory...but when I want to walk around in a towel at 9 am, and he's on the back porch, it's more than a little awkward. Wish i would have read the note on THAT beforehand. Looks like I will be wearing a robe for the duration of my stay.
Well...The OC is back on, and I'm on vacation.
Peace out.
Holy hell. If my parent's could keep the house any colder, it'd be Siberia. And too bad they didn't show me how to control this new thermostat, AND I can't find the remote to the stupid fireplace system. Cool. I'd make like a caveman and just chop wood or something, but THAT's not going to happen because my dad wanted to be able to "start the fireplace from bed". Nice theory- but when you don't have the remote, you're basically not starting anything.
Maybe it is a good thing that I can't find all of the heat monitors...it might be better to have this place at 60 than have to face my dad when he got the electric bill at the end of the month...
Anyway. Today was cold. The only thing that made it worth it, is the fact that since my parents are COMPLETELY out of the country, I am totally staying in the master bedroom. ha ha...I have already taken 3 baths in their huge bath tub. I really wish I just had unlimited funds, and could get a huge soaker tub with jets. It's basically the best. Seriously. I can't think of anything better.
Another random weird thing- My parent's got a new yard maintenance guy. Which, hey, is great in theory...but when I want to walk around in a towel at 9 am, and he's on the back porch, it's more than a little awkward. Wish i would have read the note on THAT beforehand. Looks like I will be wearing a robe for the duration of my stay.
Well...The OC is back on, and I'm on vacation.
Peace out.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Home :)
I arrived in California yesterday afternoon...seriously, only one word can describe what I am feeling tonight: Bliss. I forget how wonderful it is to come to a place where everyone cares so much about you...and even though Mount Shasta is kind of small and boring, it's so beautiful and so familiar. It's funny, i have been so caught up these last 11 months, that I really didn't realize how homesick I had been until the 747 that I was flying on yesterday circled the San Francisco bay, and I literally burst into tears.
After a good leisurely dinner with my parents and their comrades in the city, I stayed the night at my aunt and uncles...kind of stressful getting there. I haven't driven in a year, and when I drove a year ago, it was in Mount Shasta which REALLY doesn't count. Not driving for that long and then making the commute from SF to Mount Shasta (5 hours) pretty much rocked my face off.
It was also on this drive, that I realized fairly quickly my parents no longer have an ipod dock in their car. So, I really had the choice of reflecting for five hours, or listening to the ONE CD that I had in my possession: a culmination of songs by the band The Good Life. Holy hell. I ended up listening to the first song on the album, entitled Album of the Year about 500 times, because I got on a kick on the way home. I am weird about music that way. If I really like a song, I can listen to it over and over and over, for weeks on end before I move onto my next musical obsession. Probably unhealthy, but, at this time in my life, a psychiatrist isn't really an option.
Needless to say, I've made it home, and it's so QUIET. And the stars are so big and bright. They look like they are going to fall right out of the sky. It's odd that something I knew for so many years can be so disconcerting. There is basically no way I am going to get a good nights sleep. It is way too dark out here.
Enough for tonight. I am going to pass out.
After a good leisurely dinner with my parents and their comrades in the city, I stayed the night at my aunt and uncles...kind of stressful getting there. I haven't driven in a year, and when I drove a year ago, it was in Mount Shasta which REALLY doesn't count. Not driving for that long and then making the commute from SF to Mount Shasta (5 hours) pretty much rocked my face off.
It was also on this drive, that I realized fairly quickly my parents no longer have an ipod dock in their car. So, I really had the choice of reflecting for five hours, or listening to the ONE CD that I had in my possession: a culmination of songs by the band The Good Life. Holy hell. I ended up listening to the first song on the album, entitled Album of the Year about 500 times, because I got on a kick on the way home. I am weird about music that way. If I really like a song, I can listen to it over and over and over, for weeks on end before I move onto my next musical obsession. Probably unhealthy, but, at this time in my life, a psychiatrist isn't really an option.
Needless to say, I've made it home, and it's so QUIET. And the stars are so big and bright. They look like they are going to fall right out of the sky. It's odd that something I knew for so many years can be so disconcerting. There is basically no way I am going to get a good nights sleep. It is way too dark out here.
Enough for tonight. I am going to pass out.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Reasons why Obama is my Main Man.
What if John McCain were a former president of the Harvard Law Review?
What if Barack Obama finished fifth from the bottom of his graduating
class?
What if McCain were still married to the first woman he said 'I do' to?
What if Obama were the candidate who left his first wife after she no
longer measured up to his standards?
What if Michelle Obama were a wife who not only became addicted to pain
killers, but acquired them illegally through her charitable organization?
What if Cindy McCain graduated from Harvard?
What if Obama were a member of the Keating-5?
What if McCain were a charismatic, eloquent speaker?
If these questions reflected reality, do you really believe the election numbers would be as close as they are?
This is what racism does. It covers up, rationalizes and minimizes positive qualities in one candidate and emphasizes negative qualities in another when there is a color difference.
You are The Boss... which team would you hire?
With America facing historic debt, 2 wars, stumbling health care, a
weakened dollar, all-time high prison population, mortgage crises, bank
foreclosures, etc.
Educational Background:
Obama:
Columbia University - B.A. Political Science with a Specialization in
International Relations.
Harvard - Juris Doctor (J.D.) Magna Cum Laude
Biden:
University of Delaware - B.A. in History and B.A. in Political Science.
Syracuse University College of Law - Juris Doctor (J.D.)
vs.
McCain:
United States Naval Academy - Class rank: 894 of 89
Palin:
Hawaii Pacific University - 1 semester
North Idaho College - 2 semesters - general study
University of Idaho - 2 semesters - journalism
Matanuska-Susitna College - 1 semester
University of Idaho - 3 semesters - B.A. in Journalism
Now, which team are you going to hire ?
PS: What if Barack Obama had an unwed, pregnant teenage daughter....
What if Barack Obama finished fifth from the bottom of his graduating
class?
What if McCain were still married to the first woman he said 'I do' to?
What if Obama were the candidate who left his first wife after she no
longer measured up to his standards?
What if Michelle Obama were a wife who not only became addicted to pain
killers, but acquired them illegally through her charitable organization?
What if Cindy McCain graduated from Harvard?
What if Obama were a member of the Keating-5?
What if McCain were a charismatic, eloquent speaker?
If these questions reflected reality, do you really believe the election numbers would be as close as they are?
This is what racism does. It covers up, rationalizes and minimizes positive qualities in one candidate and emphasizes negative qualities in another when there is a color difference.
You are The Boss... which team would you hire?
With America facing historic debt, 2 wars, stumbling health care, a
weakened dollar, all-time high prison population, mortgage crises, bank
foreclosures, etc.
Educational Background:
Obama:
Columbia University - B.A. Political Science with a Specialization in
International Relations.
Harvard - Juris Doctor (J.D.) Magna Cum Laude
Biden:
University of Delaware - B.A. in History and B.A. in Political Science.
Syracuse University College of Law - Juris Doctor (J.D.)
vs.
McCain:
United States Naval Academy - Class rank: 894 of 89
Palin:
Hawaii Pacific University - 1 semester
North Idaho College - 2 semesters - general study
University of Idaho - 2 semesters - journalism
Matanuska-Susitna College - 1 semester
University of Idaho - 3 semesters - B.A. in Journalism
Now, which team are you going to hire ?
PS: What if Barack Obama had an unwed, pregnant teenage daughter....
Michigan, Men, and Maladies.
Well...it's been a few days. Like my journal sitting on my dresser, one of the best parts about having a blog is that I only have to add to it when I feel inspired.
I feel like a few things cleared up for me the past couple days. I had the opportunity to go to Michigan with my company last Friday for some off-site training, and honestly, I think it really helped improve my attitude. I tend to get a bit (okay okay, a lot) caught up sometimes in things that should really be deemed unnecessasary. I think 1) actively talking about problems and solutions, and 2) getting the hell out of the city for a bit really helped me find my center.
I did some metal housekeeping over the last couple weeks too...and I think it all caught up with me over the weekend. After talking to my sister on Saturday night, it occcured to me just how different my priorities are then they were just a few short years ago. The things I really valued have gradually shifted...and I can't help but wonder where that is going to take me in the future. I was able to really listen to General Conference (a broadcast for my church from Salt Lake) all four sessions...and I was able to do a lot of research I have been slacking on for the upcoming Election...
I feel like a few things cleared up for me the past couple days. I had the opportunity to go to Michigan with my company last Friday for some off-site training, and honestly, I think it really helped improve my attitude. I tend to get a bit (okay okay, a lot) caught up sometimes in things that should really be deemed unnecessasary. I think 1) actively talking about problems and solutions, and 2) getting the hell out of the city for a bit really helped me find my center.
I did some metal housekeeping over the last couple weeks too...and I think it all caught up with me over the weekend. After talking to my sister on Saturday night, it occcured to me just how different my priorities are then they were just a few short years ago. The things I really valued have gradually shifted...and I can't help but wonder where that is going to take me in the future. I was able to really listen to General Conference (a broadcast for my church from Salt Lake) all four sessions...and I was able to do a lot of research I have been slacking on for the upcoming Election...
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