HAPPY NEW YEAR

I believe that the coming year will be better than the last several years.

One of my favorite restaurants was really full this morning. Full restaurants is one of the ways that I tell if an economy is picking up.

We can all spoil any recovery by reacting with fear to news that a small European country is going to have "debt problems".

We can all spoil any recovery by believing that Iran is going to close everyone off from oil. Iran paid attention during the two "Gulf Wars". They know that they would lose power if they angered the rest of the world by trying to stop ocean shipping of oil.

Our news sells itself with stories that are designed to frighten you. If you do not get frightened, you may not watch the news or read a newspaper. It is difficult to fight this fear, and hard to tell if the fear is reality or a "news at 6" story. If necessary, verify by watching BBC and PBS news. Both are somewhat boring, but less likely to use scare tactics to get you to watch.

Keep your fear of the world coming to an end under control and we will all have a happy and prosperous new year.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

CELEBRATE PEOPLE

This holiday, try to do your best to praise people, rather than criticize them. This goes double for your family.

If you hate your child's hair, tell her that you really like her shoes. If you hate the food, tell them that the table decorations are lovely. You can always find something that you like if you want to look.

Being open and loving instead of closed and critical will make your own holiday a holiday to remember.

ENJOY!

CELEBRATING SATURNALIA

Around year zero, Romans were still celebrating Saturnalia, which was a two week party celebrating Saturn, which started on the shortest day of the year.

Today is the shortest day of the year.

For years, my children and I celebrated Saturnalia, where we each opened one gift. I always made certain that the children's gift was one that would keep them busy for the next five days.

I explained about the shortest day of the year and the Romans. But I did not bother to explain anything else. Eventually, the children did their own historical research and taught me things that I did not know about Saturnalia.

One year, the children went to Miami for Christmas, and the kids and I held Christmas and Saturnalia on the same day.

All ancient cultures celebrated the sun coming back. When children learn history they learn that all people used to be 'pagan'.

Frankly, I started the Saturnalia thing so I could spread out the present giving. I think we give so much to the children that they can not appreciate the gifts.

Anyway, Happy Saturnalia to you all!

TALKATIVE CHILDREN

A parent cannot WAIT for a baby to start talking. It does not take long after that for a parent to wonder how to get the child to shut up.

After many attempts to teach a child to talk quietly or to stop talking so others could talk, a brilliant parent came up with the idea of an imaginary mute button.

The parent points an imaginary TV control at the child. By pretending to push mute multiple times, the child is "told" to be silent. Pushing the mute button one or two times means that the child should talk more quietly.

As I recall, the parent and child expanded on the game so that the child could "fast forward".

It is imperative that the child be allowed to move his/her lips as if she/he were talking, for at least for 20 seconds after the "mute" button is pushed.

The child seemed to love the game, the parent did not have to yell at the child, and others could talk without interruption.

US DESTROYS WEBSITES WITHOUT NOTICE?

ICE, which is supposed to be doing homeland security, has closed a hip hop website for a year due to unproven copyright violations. No hearing was ever held. The site is now back up. Check out Dajaz1.com for more information.

Now the US Congress wants to allow copyright holders to shut down a website upon a no hearing complaint. The SOPA act (HR 3261) would also make felons out of teenage movie sharers.

Internet companies believe that the best way to address copyright infringement is to pass the OPEN (Online Protection and Enforcement of Digital Trade) Act.

I believe that if the internet is a community, it needs the same things that other communities have. The internet especially needs courts, judges, police officers, prosecutors, defense attorneys. If anyone expects to fairly stop the con artists and copyright violators, then the internet needs a judicial system.

I envision that an internet judical system would operate on line courts, where people can appear to tell the judge their side of the case.

The artists opposing the OPEN Act say that the ITC court is too far away from them. The artists would like to be able to say, "stop that", and have it stopped without any court hearing at all.

Artists should remember that all art is derivative, and if they can stop someone from internet publishing with just their word alone, they can also be stopped from internet publishing on someone else's word alone.

These are serious issues. These issues can not be solved unless the solution comes from people who understand how the internet works.

CRIPPLING THE EFFECTIVE INVESTIGATORS OF US TERROR

Congress is trying to pass an add on to the defense spending bill which would give the MILITARY the responsibility to investigate, prosecute and imprison terror suspects IN THE US. The FBI and the Justice Department would no longer be responsible for US terror.

The FBI has been doing a great job stopping bombings before the bomb is even built.

The military does NOT want to be in charge of domestic terror.

The Secretary of Defense, the Director of National Intelligence, the FBI, and the Justice Department, ALL OPPOSE THE CHANGE.

So why is Congress intent on doing this?

I think they are doing this because they wish to keep the military overextended. When the military is overextended the US hires private security firms, which I call MERCENARIES, to handle security for US interests. Now that the military is no longer overextended, they are working to end the hiring of MERCENARIES.

Why is Congress on the side of the MERCENARIES? It is really easy for private security to break the law while getting information that can be used for the purpose of blackmail.

WE NEED TO STOP THIS CHANGE! Using due process of law, the FBI and the Department of Justice have been stopping, arresting, convicting, and imprisoning terrorists. There is NO REASON to give the terror suspects an excellent constitutional reason to fight their convictions.

CALL YOUR CONGRESSPERSON!

SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST

I am convinced that some people view disabled people as if the disabled were the wounded antelope and they were the lion. These people treat the disabled as if they were prey. "Oh, golly, look a wheelchair. The better to eat you, my dear."

Unfortunately, you do it also. Your way is kinder and more subtle. What you do is make the decisions on behalf of the disabled person, because you believe that you know better. Often the decision you make is to put the person away in a group home of some sort. You get upset when the disabled person says, "No." Often the disabled person you want to put into a home is one of your parents.

People of sound mind and feeble body get to make their own life choices. The only time you get to make the choices for an adult is if the adult is not of sound mind.

So if you have a disabled friend with a sound mind, make certain that you are not making choices on behalf of the friend. Let your friend make her/his own choices, even if you disagree with that choice.

However, I have NO PROBLEM with any of you people who want to help the disabled by making certain that the "lions" are taught that taking advantage of the disabled is going to get them into a lot of trouble.

MEDICAL MARIJUANA AT RISK

Medical marijuana is legal in many states. FEDERAL LAW DEFINES MARIJUANA AS AN ILLEGAL DRUG. (Nixon's revenge against the peace movement was to deceitfully define marijuana as the evilest of evil drugs.) Federal law prohibits even doctors from exploring marijuana's medical uses.

RIGHT NOW, THERE IS A BILL IN CONGRESS TO END PROHIBITION OF MARIJUANA -- HR 2306.

As long as the federal law defines marijuana as an illegal substance, marijuana users, sellers and growers will ALWAYS be at risk. Right now, all of the federal laws regarding illegal substances apply to marijuana. This means that, according to federal law, marijuana users cannot get scholarships, federal housing, business deductions, medical research grants, gun permits, etc. Just because the Feds are not now really trying to apply these law does not mean that the Feds can not apply these laws any time they want.

So why are NORML and medical marijuana activists not working very hard to get HR 2306 passed and into law?

We all also need to remember that state laws against marijuana will be in effect for YEARS. There are still "dry counties" where alcohol sales are prohibited 80 years after federal alcohol prohibition was repealed.