Category Archives: thoughts

Jul21

War?

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Why do wars start?  We have heard of beauties abandoning their husbands for another man, to conquering the world by making only one country, then we have also heard of wars that free slaves or people who are oppressed in any way.  Entire nations have lost most of their population to killings for these reasons alone.  Some wars have cost more lives than some plagues or epidemics, so why is it we continue to have them? Why are there wars on earth? We have seen the destruction, we are taught about the atrocities that war brings in school as we study history.  However everyday you hear someone is fighting someone for some reason.  In India, Africa, the Middle East, Russia even in our own country you hear of gang wars, none of this is something to be proud of, we are still losing innocent people every day to violence, poverty and hunger.  War is not just guns and ammo it is deciding which foods to promote for surviving because there is even a war on obesity.  Again why must there be war? If there was one war, one war only we should focus on it and that is the war to bring kindness to all those around us.  It is not based on hatred at all.  Hatred of a person for what, because they were born in one city and you were born in another, or could it be because their DNA is only slightly different.  We all have bad genes even the Kennedy’s had siblings with disabilities.  A simple genetic trait, morphing of a DNA strand.  No one is immune of mutant DNA that causes disease or the freckle on your skin.  It is the precise reason we have war on our eating habits because our DNA is not perfect.  Of course there are some tests to see if you will have cancer or not but most of the time it is unknown, masked, attached to what you thought were fine genetic traits and they turn out not to be.  So when you hear of a nation like ours who went to war not once but twice over the color of ones skin, it really shows how unaccepting of differences between people and the way people are born.

Again why is there war? They say most of it is based on three things fear, power and money or all of the above.  I can understand completely the emotion of fear, we have all been afraid at one time or another and in most instances that is the result of lack of knowledge or experience or both.  Most fear is lessened through experience and education.  Although the power and money part I don’t understand.  I don’t understand how some find it easy to denounce someone for the want of money or to feel like they are better than someone else.  Most people say it is because we have never known what it means to have money and power.  The majority of people are not in the 1% as they say we do not have that status.  Which is why it is a bad example as my intent is not divide socioeconomic classes, for I have heard stories of people killing others for one dollar bill or of people stepping over bodies of others to get to the top of the ladder no matter what level they begin.  Though I always ask myself was it worth it, when listening to these stories?  Was it worth being deceitful, greedy and selfish all for what to be a leader?  Have you noticed the people revered for their leadership skills were well rounded individuals.  People like George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Roosevelt, Gandhi, and the Dalai Lama to name a few.  To gain the legendary status as excellent leaders they worked through killing oppression by being selective and specific in their dealings of others who wanted nothing more than to destroy.  Even when they achieved their goals they didn’t set out to conquer a nation or a group of people to be exactly like them they fought to be themselves and to let others be who they are.  They fought simply for the reason that the world is our neighborhood and rather than destroy others we help others, imagine a war where we all get to live knowing all we interact with are our friends.

-Jennie Nawrocki

May26

Our Memorial Day

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This weekend we honor those that have served our country, whether they given their lives, served their homeland, or are currently in active duty.  This duty to your country has begun since people began living and building communities, each person served a purpose, each person had their duty.  Though in days past it was monarchs who ruled with their advisors the governed kingdoms had their rulers and the majority be peasants.  During some of these times societies and cultures flourished as each person had what they needed, where everyone was provided for and the average citizen felt important, take care of, safe.  Those people in those societies have what every person vies for on a regular basis they had security, they felt everything would work out well.  The terror of impending invasion, war or general governmental unrest relies on the people we have elected into office, who intern rely on their branches of government to recruit those who are able to now interact on a global scale far more than ever imagined.  With the internet we are no longer several nations we are one community where everybody has access to what everybody else is seeing.  There is a new branch of service that each country is developing the technological branch.  World leaders are meeting together on very different levels than ever before because regardless of your background you have access.  The world is based on full connections that are very discrete in nature but very powerful in force.  Now the men in uniform use this world as a 4th dimensional or Z axis.  Some would say the final frontier was space though really we found unchartered territory in technology.  How does it all work?  How should we have it work?  There are people who have spent their lives learning to communicate in a format that serves beneficial diplomacy to all nations and backgrounds.  These are the same people that carry the seal of their country, nation, society.  They are in that role of leadership because of their commitment to enhancing the lives of everyone and everybody in their society as well as those around the world.  They don’t wine and complain and cry like babies when things don’t go their way they look at the situation and make decisions based on history of continual working flourishing societies and the sole need to create mutual respectful productive societies for everybody involved.  That is the conversation today, that is what this memorial day is about honoring those in uniform of all types in all ways agreeing for the lines of communication to remain open.  Agreeing that we in many ways are united nations living together for one purpose and one purpose only, to live in a world without terror towards an individual, race, religion, or country.  These are the memories we all want to have when look back at events past not whether we berate people but how we enhanced each others emotional security to a level never imagined.  It was how we lived, it is how we live, that is the memory to hold and maintain. to have a sense of emotional well being for not only ourselves but our country and the world as a whole.

-Jennie Nawrocki

Feb17

The Wall

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A strange feeling when faced with calamity of a wall.  The wall has no openings and remains outside the realms of a body’s reach.  Its vast clear vertical surface  smooth and free of divots allows  no sections of which to hold onto it, for it only slides or releases materials that try gripping its front.  Even methods to climb over the wall are null and void as it seems to grow taller on approach.  Walking around finding there is no end to its borders completely become evident when one is present.  Built of material impenetrable and covered with paint invisible to the naked eyes.

How does one build a wall so vast with material so indestructible even drilling is not successful.  The owners wanted to hold violent attacks, evil intentions, crazy thoughts, and fools who are stupid to go along with wars of justice without cause.  The catches of societies who conform degenerates of the human race into believing that they are the greatest of everyone and that their ways are the only ways at least this is what the leader infuses into their cranial lobes. Their ultimate goal is to chop off the ones that don’t belong.  Those who speak, write, walk and look different then others are left behind unless they themselves conform to the populous, even then membership cannot be guaranteed for if you fall outside of the lines, you too are left.  This wall was built to allow freedom of thought, personal individuality, mutual respect, and honor compassion combined with empathy.

-Jennie Nawrocki

Nov6

Support

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They say it takes a village to raise a child. In reality, it is a community of people that helps in the development of an individual. I expand on that statement and say it takes the world to raise nations. The idea of support is not a new one but what does that mean, what does it take to support someone or something?

Even in the beginning roles of people within families and within communities have always been divided. The men went out to hunt and protect while the women took care of the children and gathered items to build a home. The children would also do their part of supporting the family they would have chores helping either parent. To be a family has always be a collective of interweaving of abilities in order to, at its very basic level, survive. Each family in turn surviving was a part of a greater effort, a community, which in turn was a part of a village and the village was a part of a kingdom. This is nothing new all throughout history we have had societies with micro societies who have had even smaller societies.

When supporting someone in their community often people will purchase something or donate items to a local organization. This organization however may qualify as a tax-exempt charity or foundation or it may be that you give a little extra to your child’s little league team. However you support, most people doing it locally find it more beneficial because they see where their dollar or time is going. On the other hand, what makes a charity or a foundation according to my research is mostly defined through its ability to qualify under tax exemption status based on the percentage of contributions it receives and that it benefits communities or the environment (including animals). Though there is nothing out there that doesn’t say how beneficial to the community it should be.

We have all heard that when donating to a charity you have to ask or should try to figure out how much of each dollar actually goes to the cause it is trying to benefit or if most of it goes to operating costs rather than the people or things it intends to benefit. For example, a qualifying charity under the law by obtaining a certain number of donations, uses the majority of those donations to go to the mailing costs of getting donations should both the charity receive tax exempt status and the giver receive tax deductions when the dollar just went to pushing paper. There has to be something somewhere that states, if you are a charity or a foundation a certain percentage of the money should go to helping the cause it is intended to help. I think this would eliminate bad charities right from the beginning because you know that organization cannot exceed so much per dollar of operational costs. There is a little regulation in regards for this as charities cannot provide personal interest support and it has to pay its employees a reasonable salary with out bonuses or dividends. However yet there are many charities out there of which their services are really providing a business rather than supporting the environment or people.

This has been a big deterrent for people wanting to help others by giving their time or money to charities. People know there are so many charities doing the same thing or are intended to complete the same task but little is being done to help those who need. To the average person to hear there are over a million charitable organizations, within United States alone, making it a trillion dollar industry according to the Present Law and Background Relating to the Federal Tax Treatment of Charitable Contributions and it is still not enough. As a result most people live in with our feet glued to the ground as we are starting to not want to fund organizations because we are not sure they are actually benefiting and we don’t want to give to the homeless person on the street because we don’t know how they are going to use that money. What are left are our own volunteer hours but wait that isn’t recognized either under federal law as a donation, so some organizations do not take volunteers. Why can’t a company deduct the salary of an employee whose soul purpose is to volunteer for charities or foundations as a representative of the company? Wouldn’t that be better than just a big check? Or maybe a person who is retired get a tax break because to keep active they volunteered so many hours a week. Make the act of supporting our community by being personally present and aware of what is going on in our communities. We want to help our communities, provide the support they need, though we as a society are frustrated with where our time and money goes giving us another reason to be apathetic when issues arise.

Reading all this information I still say to give community your time, your abilities to help out where you can. How do I know this, I don’t claim to know much of anything but I do know that every story in which I have heard of a family suffering such as going through a hard time like the great depression or a war but also working towards living everyday. I remember hearing stories about barn raisings in rural pioneer communities. Everyone participated everyone was able to have a barn; everyone was a part of the community because they all shared in the task. No one came out profiting from another’s work only they each received the barn they needed in order to survive nothing more nothing less.

In the past without technology we weren’t dependent on other countries for our economy our survival. It is very apparent we live in a world where each country is dependent on several others combined economy so that local community has expanded to all the continents. No matter where you go I hear people worried about money, who wouldn’t be, it is a huge support to our way of life. However, that is not what makes this world run. I realize that this point could be hotly debated. It is the nature vs. nurture combined with what came first the chicken or the egg. The answer may not be clear to most.

For me I go back to the great depression, it was the programs that said lets put people to work, no matter what, that began to be a support, the rue for a good gumbo. We acknowledged and didn’t judge when the only job a person had was to turn over bricks in the street for the government. It was a job, a way of providing a living for themselves and supporting the community simultaneously. It worked, they have a job, they are making money they are productive members of society. Move ahead a few years and when the world was at war everyone helped, women left the traditional roles as housewife and became Rosie the Riveter. We survived because we all supported a cause and that cause was to live.

The thing I see about successful companies is that everyone feels supported and valued. I think I read somewhere that Jim Henson thought that no idea was a bad idea as a result he and his coworkers always had choices but more important they always felt heard, listened to, most of all respected in their roles in the business community he created.

On several occasions I have read or have seen people work together for what ever reason and are able to fill roles when and where needed. Sure they all had their main role but if necessary they would step into another role. I chose the words step into and not up for a specific reason, I say it because to think of yourself as a superior being is to think you are better than others, we regard some of the most important people in the world not because they were superior to us but because they were humble enough to say I am one of you. Nelson Mandela went to jail because he maintained there were no black people, no white people just people. He didn’t care if you had or were the most influential person on the planet he cared about what are you doing to help the living conditions of all the people in his country or even the world.

I never really spent much time with my dad, but the one thing I will always remember whether true or not is that he one day met John Wayne. He was walking by his boat and started a conversation with “that’s a nice boat you have there….” And went on to have a discussion about boats with John Wayne. My dad continued to talk about how just from that initial conversation that he was invited onto John Wayne’s boat. Not because he treated The Duke like a star but because he treated him like a regular person. When he finished telling this story he said “the greatest advice my dad, your grandfather, ever gave me is that you treat everyone the same as if they are equal to you if not better than you.”

I think often about that and I think about what it means to really support someone, a community, the world. The only conclusion I can come up with is in order to support someone, you have to give them opportunities, chances to do what they need to be productive themselves. Every persons’ means of survival is different, that means how you give is going to be different. Just know what you are supporting whether it is giving towards mostly operational costs or it is actually benefiting those in need.

-Jennie Nawrocki

Jun3

Perceiving Worlds

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I recently read a book on perceiving other worlds the book was called just that, Perceiving Other Worlds written by Edward Thumboo.  The basic principle of the book is how a person or several people from one culture writes and lives within another culture and how those cultures may not intertwine or do.  Generally, the premise of the book is about what you would assume the title would imply. I would recommend reading this book only if you are interested in what I equate with as educational dissertations of a very scientific and research format, which at times I am.  While reading there was this one passage that struck me.  It was in the Cross Cultural Influences on the Work of a Singapore Writer, Essay, just one of the many essays within the novel. Within this essay the author quotes Socrates as he comments on Singapore’s folktales.  In short the writer wanted his work to be balanced between both cultural influences but I couldn’t help but think about this passage within the essay referencing the play Trial.

The play is about freedom of speech.  At the hinge, the turning point of the play, Socrates makes his self-defence.  He has been forbidden to utter anything that could be interpreted as seditious.  So he proposes to tell the audience in an innocuous fairy-tale, a local legend, the story of Redhill.  This is one of the very few genuine Singaporean legends, a real piece of our cultural heritage.  It’s the story of how the ancient kingdom of Temasek is attacked by a swordfish, and a bright lad proposes building a fence of banana stems so that the swordfish get stuck.  But the king’s wise men advise him that the smart kid is just too smart, he would soon be a menace to the throne.  The king has the boy executed, and his blood stains the earth red.  This is Socrates’ comment, this is how a bit of ancient Malay legend is brought to bear on where we are now:

“Till this very day beneath the blocks of flats and the community facilities of Redhill Estate, the earth is the colour of blood… The survival of this legend from the days of the royal despotism suggests that even then, men would not let tyranny and oppression pass without remark.  I see the story as an assertion that the earth itself remembers, and protests against, injustice done to one who thought differently from others.”

There are so many thoughts that can be construed from these two paragraphs, I am sure you are already thinking of your own.  One perspective I had was when a somebody asked me a question of which I always thought was quite racist, why did our civilization/culture (referring to the western way of life) excel more quickly than others?  We have to be more advanced than them, right?  I never felt comfortable when posed this question or with my response, which was always a maybe, I guess so, I don’t know.  I tried to be as indefinite in my response as possible but the question was repeated or the thought was stated several times during many conversations.  Still I can’t answer why some cultures remained third world, I do know some cultures want to keep their traditional ways, though as a result look third world but really they are a true hunter gatherer society compared to the technology infused first world environment we encounter today.  First world societies may have began the industrial revolution but in no way does it make us more intelligent than others as we all know and if in doubt it has been proven that intelligence can be measured in a variety of ways.

As I read this passage this conversation came to mind as well as some other thoughts.  I thought about the king and his people being happy, satisfied with their world and didn’t want to change anything.  Then I reread the passage and thought of how I have heard from people using different vernacular though the idea remains the same that we as Americans are sometimes referred to by Europeans as the sweepings they didn’t want.   Then I think as an American we are descendants of people who didn’t conform to the norm of that era.  Think about it most cultural changes came from someone who wanted a machine to improve their life or decrease lives in the thought of war, taking down royalty to live with a voice in government.  Every moment in history when a ruler wanted to take or make a society or culture in their way or was extremely oppressive to the general masses that ruler became over thrown.  However only cultures even in hunter gatherer societies where people felt free even under rule have remained that way for centuries.  In these instances the people may have not technically been free for they had kings, queens or other types leaders but the citizens felt provided for and comforted.  It is astonishing the extent of how much a person will volunteer their time and money even put up with hunger when they feel it is for the right cause.

However the passage above implies the complete opposite, it implies that those that can improve the state of the culture, even save the lives of its people being discarded as unintelligent castaways, the sweepings that no one wanted.  I then ask, are the people who migrated from their homeland sweepings just the same or are they free thinkers who envision the next computer or that the earth maybe round.  What traditions are upheld and what others do we open our mind to and begin.  The entire musical Fiddler on the Roof was based on this concept, heck we have had and are having religious wars over who is the real God and how to worship this deity.  I think years of debates have occurred over progress versus tradition even within a world of several cultures and sub-cultures.  Today, now that we are in the technology age we are able to interact with any cultures or multitudes ways of life.  As a result, I think this passage is more relevant to our global society than it ever was.  As there are countries all over the world interacting simultaneously with a variety of cultures and societies. It brings up the question, how does a blossoming global culture built on free thinkers interact with some other cultures who may punish those who have other thoughts that do not match the present authority?

Jan12

Why Vote.

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I have been thinking a lot about the people in the media, people in the news, magazines, on the Internet, radio, TV and movies, you name it, even those advertisements you see in the bathroom stall and elevators. All of them wanting to send a message. I have been reading, keeping a visual memory and digesting, some easier than others, every single piece of information given to me. In order to see both sides of the story this is what I believe I had to do, stand back and just let everything thing in, putting all the little bits and pieces together. There is some filtering that is required but eventually you have an idea. Of course we all know it is trying to tell you something, a story, an event or a perhaps a revelation of something that will allow you to fulfill your life, especially from advertisements. Out of each image, type print and verbal input I have found I tend to prefer celebrities to politicians. You may say sure don’t we all? Well most of us do but I wanted to really ponder it, what was the reasoning? Why?

When you see junk food entertainment or actual art whether it is music, movies, TV, magazines or even the news. Those people are trying to tell you a story. They are either retelling an occurrence of the past or present or want to convey what may happen in the future. These stories usually come from some sort of personal experiences. However an ad has only one purpose…to get you to buy something. Think about it, an advertisement wouldn’t be an advertisement unless it was trying to sell you something. Companies are getting trickier some overtly blatant and some very discreet about how they encourage the consumer to buy items. They hand out swag at events, they plaster their name everywhere to the point you see the sponsor of the event in bigger and bolder letters than the title of the event itself.

There is a reason they pay for it; they spend big bucks on getting you to buy what they want you to buy. They have even started changing story lines just to get a plug for their product. It really has over taken the media. Not only that they have over taken our government. That is right, you did hear me right the companies are buying our politicians like they are members of mafia only the CEO is the Godfather. We all know what happens when you don’t follow what the Godfather tells you to do, don’t we.

How are they doing it? This is where the very discreet part of advertising comes in. We have this thing called a super pac. Trying to decipher the legal definition that I have linked for you if you double click on the word is really simple a bunch of people or most likely companies (they have that type of money) lobby to support a bill in the government anonymously. Basically, they are able to pay our politicians legally to start or stop our government. They are funding the laws that are passed, that’s right your beloved turkey you will have for Thanksgiving could be funding that bill that you spent 4 hours on your soap box raving mad discussing that this law should never have been passed because no one with common sense would allow that bill to get that far through the governmental system.

I often wondered how do expansive corporations get their money or how they do make million, billion, and soon to be trillion dollar deals, in which companies are becoming more of monopolies than a competitive business environment. It has to come from us, right, because we are always upset at how much things cost to make and/or provide for us their favorite customer because without us they wouldn’t have a product, so we really push the price of the product. I don’t believe it. Here is why?

In the news you also hear that the price of the product is covering the costs of our benefits including health insurance, loss prevention, labor and the price of the product itself. However if you also put together the other financial news, which most of the average Americans do not, those same companies are posting their best quarter profit ever, they are able to expand in this market, they bought this other smaller company, a new jet was required for transporting the elite of the company while they make business deals on the golf course or over dinner at the cost of several thousand dollars, or my favorite the CEO just bought another vacation home in some exotic place. All for our benefit, really the cost of the product or service is for our benefit? How often do you hear the human interest story of the person who couldn’t afford something because even though they were hard working good people, there was no way to make ends meet. It is especially sad when it has to do with a family member dying because they couldn’t afford health care. That same health care that companies must lay off workers because they can’t afford to pay their employee’s benefits.

This is not news to us because the news does report it everyday if you listen to a variety of stations and formats. However what may be news to you and is new to me is this fact about our government as it is now. I had a friend who actually went to go travel the two hours it takes to get to our state capital and lobby for an issue he felt his congressmen needed to hear. When he entered the capital building stating he wanted to speak with his representative this was the reply he received, “Please sir go into this room and record what you have to say and your representative will hear it when they are able.” This shocked me, it shocked him, and it shocked everyone who hears this story. We are unable to talk to our politicians personally; I expect it from a celebrity but not a politician. I wouldn’t be so outraged until I put that information together with the prank phone call to Scott Walker, I remembered from a few years ago. After you double clicked and heard the funny call, you realize it isn’t so funny after all. Why is it that some influential CEO was able to get a direct line with a governor when a citizen who is in the pursuit of happiness only get a tape recorder in a closet. It is the result of the super pac, the first law I hope our government slashes from the rule books.

A super pac not only puts up lobbying for bills to be passed or not but basically buys our politicians. They fund the campaigns of each politician effectively giving them their endorsement without ever telling who funded it, sounds like a mob boss to me. That same politician is going to basically be bought to get a job and pass a bill, by a company. What is a companies only purpose to make money but again not necessarily for us the people. In my mind these should be separate, why because a company wants to make money for themselves, an effective democratic government is ruled by the people not money.

Does this mean that all politicians are crooks and work for the mob, no not all. In fact, some politicians are very upfront with their supporters as well as some big businesses will tell who or what they fund. However, I am certainly going to trust and put my endorsement into the good of a celebrity rather than a politician, why? I think celebrities whether they like it or not have to live, breathe and be real people as much as possible. Huh? You may ask they make more money, drive expensive cars and stay in the most expensive places. Yes they do, although here is the difference. An actor has to get into the role of a homeless guy in order to make it believable. Some celebrities pull their art from their personal struggling artist days others do research to try and make it real. A singer tells songs of woe, not because someone told them about it in a story but because they lived it. A painter can make you cry through their art because it is a portrait of them screaming. Even sports celebrities have to answer letters and give back to their fans otherwise they wouldn’t go to games. These people give us a sense of belonging because they have gone through exactly what we encounter everyday. When was the last time you wore the face of a CEO as your favorite t-shirt. It just doesn’t happen. Politicians try to be like us but they spend their days being like CEOs holed up behind ropes and private clubs hardly ever having to interact with us, the average everyday person.

There was a time when we revered our politicians when we stood up for them and would do anything they asked but when we have heard about the endless political corruption it is not news so we become apathetic. We have become so passive that most of us are able to say who our president is but don’t even know who works in our own city governments, including me. I would if it was news worthy but it isn’t, unfortunately. Why? We prefer to watch celebrities rather than politics. If it was I may like politicians more. Instead I have to work at trusting a politician.

The news is very interesting, the reporters have to be so objective and equal in their commentary that it is just the facts but I will tell you that they probably know more of the behind the scenes than we ever will because they are limited in what they can report and it will get worse. Remember that monopoly I was talking about click to see an outdated media holdings sheet big businesses have a part in every industry you can imagine and it has gotten bigger Disney just bought Star Wars. Really I don’t mind that businesses get big but when they can buy whole countries, I get worried. We are being bought out. These companies are super pac funders along with several other corporations. So of course a politician is going to answer a phone call from some CEO because they are his boss. Each time they want a job they get funded by them. Effectively when these calls are being made that politician is saying, “Call me anytime my secretary will put you right through.” You would too if it was your boss.

However, the last I heard we are a free nation, a nation that threw tea in the harbor because it we had taxation with representation. Are you still going to let yourself be apathetic and not vote because it doesn’t do any good. Remember we are citizens; we built this country with our sweat, tears and even our lives. If we could build a nation because we wanted to be heard we can do it again. Make them hear us. We are not a bunch of apathic losers that can be bought. Be heard, don’t let the big businesses fund our politicians, don’t let the government be run as a company. We are not its employees but this country’s boss. We live in a country for the people, by the people. Keep it that way.

-Jennie Nawrocki

Jan12

We The People

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When people ask me whom are you going to vote for in any election I always say I vote for those who are for the MAN. When I say that I mean the populous, the people who barely can survive to those who have enough to support their family but would crumble in the face of a medical or natural disaster. People who have calluses on their hands because they work beyond the regular workday and don’t have business deals over long lunches or at the golf courses. These people are men and women are of any race, spiritual and/or cultural beliefs. These are the people that are the blood, muscles and bones of America the ones who built it. The ones who said British Tyranny was not for us, we want to believe and do what we want, that is the land of opportunity that is the land of freedom.

Now I don’t believe this is the land of opportunity or freedom, our press is so skewed or scared that hardly anyone believes it is objective and just the facts. Recently, I have read they are even thinking of censoring the internet for either political http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/18/house-republicans-block-net-neutrality_n_824917.html or business http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110118/12431012712/companies-who-support-censoring-internet.shtml reasons. If these are true, then we really have lost one of the most fundamental rights as citizens, our freedom of speech. No one can deny that people naturally bend information in their favor so that they can sell a point or product. Heck, you look at all those prescription drug ads, they have to say the side effects but as they are saying it they show a picture of very content people having a good time. However, it was the people over the years demanding that advertisers be true to their claims because they were being burned all too often by the true product. Again and again that is was it takes to start change is more than one person to band together and say this is unfair, this is unjust change the law, change your ways or we will not stop advocating for the good, the protection of the people.

We saw the benefits of this in Egypt but it is really happening in Wisconsin right now. The public unions are fighting for the benefits they have gained over the years. Being a school teacher and family member to those who live and breathe in the private sector I have seen both sides of the story. I have seen my brother lose his business because times are tough and smaller businesses had to combine in order to survive. I have seen jobs move over seas because businesses want to skirt unions and their seemly high demands, the same ones that the public unions have now. The only and I mean the only reason that public unions have remained strong is because they are the jobs that you can’t outsource and by breaking these public unions the government is saying we value business more than the people.

In essence the people, business and the government all suffered a huge fatality, it has become a highly flawed system. I am not going to sit here and vent my frustrations without offering a solution. I say the people; the businesses and the government get back to the table and negotiate. Negotiate ways to give people back their jobs, health care, and pensions by businesses not being allowed to outsource any more. Believe me if you find a way that a family shouldn’t have to starve or lose their modest house in order to live and breathe for their entire lives, I think you will find the people to be more flexible. Really all the people want is to feel as secure as possible and would be willing to work with you to get achieve that pursuit of happiness. I also think that any business should not be able to mark up any item beyond 100% manufacturing, transportation, and personal costs combined. If such profits exist beyond that they should give it to the people via charity. In addition the government should really focus enforcing those laws that focus on protecting the people rather than someone who has the ability to sue because her coffee is too hot and she didn’t receive proper warning. As for the people start taking responsibility for the common sense that has been taught to them over several years. I don’t know about you but when I order anything hot I will automatically be extra careful with it because my Home Ec teacher taught me to handle hot objects in the kitchen carefully, the fireman always wants people to have a smoke detector in the house because hot things burn, the police man arrests people for even threatening to hurt someone with hot things, heck even Smokey the Bear says something like only you can prevent…. Finally, when accidents do happen, we are people after al, the EMT comes to help you but that doesn’t mean you get to sue someone because you forgot to be careful. Really people, don’t go for the gold by never really panning for it, you have to work for it just like everyone else.

This week we celebrated Presidents Day and thinking about all the great presidents that people continually celebrate, each time those presidents Washington, Lincoln, FDR, Kennedy, etc. all truly represented the people and worked to bring them together and make everyone equal in one form or another. They all brought this country out of great distress. A state we are living in regardless of whether or not we are officially out of a recession. We now live in an age where you must have proof before you can do anything. To me the proof that we have lost a government for the people by the people is that the people have now become serfs under the king autocracy rather than the, We the People, a democracy, who gathered together for the freedom, equality and rights of all.

-Jennie Nawrocki

Jan12

Lessons

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When a student does something that a teacher and/or administrator is required to follow through with consequences, during the process part of the conversation usually entails some version of this question, What did you learn? Often putting all the responsibility on the student rather than all parties involved. It is only when the problem is repeated or ballooned within either the school or real world environment when the whole scenario is looked at often resulting in the administrations fault because they didn’t put together the supports needed to stop the problem in the first place. Take for example the economic decline, at first it was the persons fault for not paying their bills or participating with insider trading, then people may look at what they did wrong and possibly stop however for various reasons the actions continue if not expand. Then it starts to be the companies fault not providing internal policies that would catch the behavior before it caused tremendous harm. However it is now the governments fault for not creating or enforcing laws especially when they affect the populus as a whole. Resulting to the fact that it is again the people’s fault because they voted in corrupt politicians. By now it is so widespread, so interweaved causing world wide panic of depression that nothing is clear as to whom is responsible. Now we are all trying to clean up a big mess, which many people theorize as to how to solve. Since everyone else has an opinion or has given their solution why not be in the masses and throw out mine.

I long ago wrote an essay on motivation (now lost in the tech abyss of deletions), in short that essay says motivation all boils down to that american constitutional right of the pursuit of happiness. It is that individuals happiness that determines whether gaining money is defined by greed or simply just survival. Think about it I can have the same mattress for years while another person feels if they don’t change it or have the money to change it once a year passes then they feel distraught, or otherwise unhappy.

In the schools a student may misbehave to gain others love and respect the only thing he always wanted from his peers or a girl wanting to escape the world of paper pencil lecturing because she is a person who would do better learning skills as an apprentice in a workshop for she is primarily happy when she can create, fix, build all skills that prepare her for blue collar jobs which hardly exist.

When we become adults our motivations for happiness become more complex because we have more responsibilities derived from our numerous connections. Some would call this the politics of Joe the plumber. He still has that primal instinct to fight or flight the everyday needs of survival, but yet again those may be different from Sally the regular office worker. Whether this ability to pursue happiness through basic survival needs is morally just has become the bigger debate.

Truly it is these internal motivational factors that determine all the lessons you will learn. Basically if you are not motivated internally external factors become irrelevant. A person will always further themselves if they think their survival or glimpse at happiness is paramount. A case in point a gang member would rather rot in prison than rat their own out because their fate would be worse if they broke the gangs/personal code of honor. That is why in any scenario a manipulation of the environment may aide but to inspire within always wins out.

-Jennie Nawrocki

Jan12

Invention

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I have spent so long writing and speaking for others, while living through their quotes, my originality has waned. It took a long time for me to be real and not live through colloquialisms. I have my own stories to tell, they are not meant to change your life, judge your actions or directives in your daily world. I tell them because they are the voice of my thoughts with a mixture of imagination, hopes, and reality. The full circle of it is that it is the only way I communicate safely, or is it. I found out that even when the internet is published regardless of the amount of followers, everyone has an opinion. The bell curve of thought begins and it is the outliers that are brazen and remembered, bad or good. Why can’t the curve close into a circle it does, only to connect with another, flowing infinitely eventually leveling at any point. To be shy and not write or write to others opinions is without internal emotional freedom. However to write without intention of compassion leaves no one satisfied. Conversation written or verbal is meant for connection, your level is dependent on your own reality of compassionate communication from within your self.

I don’t want to live in a world where I have to be told how to think, feel and believe, no one does. Manipulators who fish and/or change the situation for their individual benefit will tell you it is for the best, because they care, while the whole time only using you until they get what the need and dropping you the second you aren’t needed. They are the corporations that run this world, they are depleting our natural resources because they think they will always find a way to get what they need, when the only thing you can take to the grave with you is your conscience. To me conscious is being aware how you affect others and dealing with your own personal hang ups. Everybody brings their issues to the conversation it is how well you know yours and what you do to counteract it, if negative, that makes you an individual.

At times I feel what ever I say someone has said before but just my cover twist of their tune. True lasting invention is filling a unknown needed void. Invariably coming from the phrase “wouldn’t it be nice”. Although it is the person that puts action into that statement is the inventor rather that the idea maker and rightly so. I think I have to write just to get the other thoughts out of mine. I don’t think that is selfish, I think of it as stepping out of the ditch.

-Jennie Nawrocki

Jan12

Hugs

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I have been thinking a lot lately about hugs, all types of hugs. I have always wondered why the best hug is a bear hug when no one would really want to hug a bear for fear they would be killed; the same is a boa constrictor hug you till all your breaths dissipate. I remember when I was a little girl I couldn’t wait for my brothers to come home from wherever they were, they would give me the hugest hugs. Being so small I would normally jump towards them and they would pick me up and wrap me in their arms. My feet never touched the ground I literally felt as though all my troubles were swept away in that one hug, I never felt so loved and protected.

I certainly have had many hugs since, hugs of all sorts but none like those. It is amazing what a hug can do; I think being held with love is more powerful than anything else someone can give you. It gives you strength, courage, support and a general feeling of being wanted, being loved. I think that is why the stereotype of woman prefer to cuddle rather than have sex, an orgasm lasts a short time but a hug lasts so much longer and it can be done in public too. I also think that is why the rumor is that guys tend to not cuddle with women unless they really love them. For me, a person never the norm, a simple hug gives me more self-confidence in any situation than even that famous liquid courage otherwise known as alcohol.

I am not much of a drinker, most people will tell you this. That is not to say I haven’t had my fair share of drinking till completely wasted evenings, I don’t know many who haven’t but over the years my drinking has become more ritualistic. I discovered long ago that drinking was a truth serum for me as well as a way to separate my body from my mind. It is like Gumby is stuck with George Washington’s brain. For that reason I couldn’t conceive of drinking at work, nope the only people I drink with are people I trust. What my drinking looks like these days is one drink watered down over the course of the evening as a way of being socially polite. If I have two drinks, I must trust the people around me but normally stop there. If I have shots or get totally drunk (which hasn’t happened in an extremely long time) then I know that the people with me will not let cars run me over as I cross against the light, true story. If I don’t drink at all I am just being me nothing more, nothing less. It took many times for me to get to this point, I had have many men and “friends” take advantage of me during these evenings of drinking during my life. The ones that didn’t I have more respect for even to this day than some of the people I encounter on a daily basis.

You may think I have digressed from the original topic, I didn’t, I wanted to give you some background as to why a hug could give a girl more courage than anything thing else, including alcohol. When you give someone a hug you are telling that person I like you enough that I will put myself in a vulnerable stance so that you can put your arms around me. For this reason hugs are a demonstration of emotion towards others. You don’t give hugs to just anyone, you give hugs to those you want to show trust and love and want to see the same in return. That doesn’t imply that some hugs are fake, some are and you know when they are, you might as well feel like you are holding a refrigerator, because that is what this type of hug is frigid. The warmth of the hug determines the comfort of the situation and the type of relationship it is, this shouldn’t be news to anyone.

When you feel a real pleasing hug one in which your bodies feel they melded together and form one whether it is friendly, familial, or sensual. It can be and is for me the most empowering thing I have ever encountered. Also helps if the person smells good too even without an added fragrance. It allows to you to feel comfortable enough to give you a sense of security with that person or the people in the situation. You feel protected from judgment and criticism, giving your self-confidence 5 energy boosts with one simple hug. You embody this feeling that you can do anything you always wanted and you didn’t even have to go to Vegas to feel that way. You just feel wanted, you feel loved, which is all anyone wants.

It is interesting I have had many hugs over time and some of the more genuine hugs came from people I didn’t long for or expect. They came from people who really cared even if it wasn’t as obvious. I feel bad that at the time I didn’t give them the hug back they deserved.

I wasn’t quite sure where I was going with this but when I write I express my emotions and when I hug I give those same emotions and so much more. I wanted to give you my faithful readers that give me a strong flawless foundation of support as I write in order for you to read, this is my way of giving you a hug. In that, I give you my truth, my protection, my love, I hope you do the same.