Taxes at the Pump

Just a brief afternoon note (for no good reason) about taxes on gasoline. For years I have been crossing the state line from Kansas to Missouri to buy gas because of the difference in the tax on a gallon of petrol. A few observations from the map:

• Alaska: 26.4¢/g - the lowest tax.. no other state is close
• California: 67.0¢/g - the highest tax
• Hawaii: 63.5¢/g - second highest tax
• Kansas: 43.4¢/g - haven't bought much gas there lately
• Missouri: 35.7¢/g - why I rarely buy gas in Kansas
• New York: 63.3¢/g - overtaxed state of my birth

Interesting to note where the blue, gold and red states are located on the map.
I feel pretty fortunate to buy gas cheaper because Missouri doesn't overtax us at the pump. Where does your state fit? Above or below average tax rates?

Shared Sacrifice

Saw an interesting interview this morning on Morning Joe with NY Times columnist Bob Herbert about his recent column titled We Owe the Troops an Exit. Here is the way that Herbert ends the piece:

One of the reasons we’re in this state of nonstop warfare is the fact that so few Americans have had any personal stake in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. There is no draft and no direct financial hardship resulting from the wars. So we keep shipping other people’s children off to combat as if they were some sort of commodity, like coal or wheat, with no real regard for the terrible price so many have to pay, physically and psychologically.

Not only is this tragic, it is profoundly disrespectful. These are real men and women, courageous and mostly uncomplaining human beings, that we are sending into the war zones, and we owe them our most careful attention. Above all, we owe them an end to two wars that have gone on much too long.

I may not agree with everything in Herbert's column but I do agree with the idea that there is no shared sacrifice in these wars.. sadly our troops and their families bear the brunt of these wars. Truthfully, the Vietnam War was ended because of the backlash against the national draft that somewhat forced a shared sacrifice in that war.

I think that this is true in many issues of life - Americans, and people in general, do not always want shared sacrifice. We may feel sorry for people who have lost their jobs but we are not very happy when someone asks us to sacrifice our own comfort to help them out. Many times we complain about welfare programs not understanding why folks cannot just pull themselves up by their bootstraps. About that, I thought that this Facebook comment on bootstraps from my friend Brian was insightful:

"What is wrong with the pull yourself up by your own bootstraps mentality is that no man is an island. We are all dependent on each other. We, who are successful didn't get here on our own. The United States is a wonderful land of opportunity and we get to partake of the fruits of others labor that has provided us with education, a healthcare system, etc. that allows us the opportunity to thrive.

I don't have an "someone owe me something" mentality, so I'm not here to defend that. What I do have is an "I owe something back" mentality."

I liked the idea that "I owe something back".. that I have an obligation to help others in this generation, and the next, because people from this, and previous, generations have helped me. In a sense the shared sacrifices of previous generations have provided opportunities that we now currently enjoy. Maybe that it the whole point?

Can you think of sacrifices that others have shared to enable your current success?

Tapping into Frustration

I remember the unofficial mantra of the 1992 Clinton Campaign - "It's the economy stupid!"  It was an effective slogan that took hold of America when videos of then President Bush surfaced of him seeing a grocery barcode scanner for the first time. That slogan and that image tapped into a deep frustration that many Americans were experiencing. In a sense it was not the economy at all.. it was the frustration that many were feeling about the economy and the seeming ineffectiveness of the government in dealing with it.

This kind of frustration has been winning (or is that losing?) elections for a long time. My first recollection was of Jimmy Carter beating Gerald Ford - people were frustrated about Watergate and his pardon of Richard Nixon. Four years later Ronald Reagan ousted Carter - people were frustrated with his inability to deal with the Iran hostage crisis. In 1992 Bill Clinton ousted President HW Bush as people struggled with the frustration of the economy.. and third party candidate Ross Perot didn't help. Eight years later folks frustrated by the Lewinsky scandals narrowly elected George W Bush.. and 8 years after that an America frustrated by a war overseas and economic woes elected Barrack Obama.

Many outside of governmental leaders have also tapped into this frustration. Squawk Radio and Cable TV have really tapped into this frustration. The celebrity hucksters.. you know who they are.. have made millions of dollars fueling these frustrations. In a sense these folks would not be in business if it were not for our frustrations. Sadly they rarely offer antidotes other than some form of revolutionary rhetoric that instructs us to get rid of the bums in power.. as long as we keep their bums in power.

I guess what I am trying to say is that frustration may not always be the best motivator to take action. I know that I have made some bad decisions when I am frustrated.. not that they have all been bad.. it is just that, in retrospect, decisions made out of frustration are usually subject to second guessing. Maybe there are more positive ways to deal with frustration? Maybe refocusing on something positive would crank down the frustration a bit? Maybe listening to music would be a good alternative to Squawk Radio? Maybe it is time to turn off Squawk TV and watch a movie? Maybe?

Are you frustrated? What are effective ways of dealing with frustration?

The Joy of Bitterness

Ever wonder why some people seem to get a perverted sense of joy out of the negative things in life? It seems that witnessing the hardships of other makes them happy. There is a verse in the Psalms that speaks to this.. it goes like this:

Each heart knows its own bitterness, and no one else can share its joy.

It reminds me of a time in my life when I was not getting along with my boss at work. It seemed that she did not like me and was always picking on me. One day I was praying about this situation and I became aware.. aware of how much bitterness I had amassed towards her. I was cut like a sharp sword by the news. I began to pray and started to renounce with tears the bitterness that had captured me. As I prayed I asked God to fill me up with love towards my boss. And something happened - my attitude began to change and my relationship with my boss improved.

I think that bitterness is such a deceitful emotion.. the way that it grabs hold of us is so subtle.. the feelings of self-righteousness that accompany it are so powerful. Often when we are hurt or in pain we long for justice.. we want restitution for the unfair ways that we have been treated. And when justice does not seem to come we create a perverted form of justice and welcome bitterness.. and soon bitterness grows from a root to a full grown tree. Once bitterness gets a hold of us we find that it enraptures our life with perversion - and no one can share in it's perverted joy.. even though we freely share it.

I know that I don't usually go to these places here but today I wanted to share this with you because I know the perverted joy of bitterness. I still find myself having to deal with bitter thoughts towards friends and bitter feelings towards God. I wish it were not so but I have found that hardship and difficulties can still set me on a dark path of bitterness. Happily my spiritual radar is a bit more sensitive to bitterness and I find that I deal with it a bit sooner.. but it still sometimes sneaks in under the radar.

If you find yourself caught up in bitter thoughts I suggest that you do what I did.. renounce the bitterness.. call it out and repent of it.. and ask God to fill you with love. Love may not come over night.. sometimes I have prayed many times.. sometimes bitterness is cut down a branch at a time.. sometimes bitterness is defeated one loving act at a time. The good news is that the bitter tree will fall.. evil will be overcome.. as we pray.

TV Watching Nostalgia

Sadly, I am old enough to remember a time when our family did not own a television. This cartoon reminded me of that day in the mid-fifties when that gigantic blonde-wooded console TV arrived in our house. Back then there were five TV stations in New York - ABC, CBS, NBC and two independent stations. Everything was black and white.. and would be until I left home in 1968 for military service. Of course nobody in my neighborhood had color TV.

Initially the TV shows I loved to watch were all on Saturday morning.. there was My Friend Flicka (Peter Graves first TV show - way before Mission Impossible).. Sky King (a show about a rancher that flew airplanes).. Roy Rogers (ever heard of Gabby Hayes?).. Gene Autry (the singing cowboy).. and the Lone Ranger (I loved this one the most). During the week my sister and I loved to watch the Mickey Mouse Club.. I remember liking the Mouseketeers and having a Mickey Mouse hat with the big ears.

On Sunday afternoons I can remember watching Shirley Temple movies.. yes, this 6 year old really loved watching her.. I did not realize how old those movies were and how old she actually was when I was watching those movies on TV. The big Sunday evening event in our house was the Ed Sullivan Show - wow, does that bring back memories of Beatlemania.. I can still hear my sister screaming at the TV.

The 1960s brought a few memorable shows.. The Twilight Zone was a favorite - my sister and I would watch it every Friday night.. American bandstand came on every weekday after school - Dick Clark never seemed to age. Sitcoms like I Love Lucy, the Dick Van Dyke Show, Dobie Gillis, the Danny Thomas Show, Leave It To Beaver, Ozzie and Harriet and Father Knows Best.. to name a few.. reflected a simpler and more naive time in America.

I think that I could go on and on regaling of life before cable TV. Life seemed simpler.. maybe the fewer channels on the TV is reflective of that simplicity? Maybe color TV and UHF stations brought a bit of complexity with them? Not that I would trade where we are today.. but it would be interesting to know what life would be like if we only had 10 TV stations.

Thanks for walking down memory lane with me. What are your earliest TV memories?

Hate Crimes

This week brought the issue of people assaulting people based on hate front and center as we all heard this story:

Michael Enright, a 21-year-old aspiring filmmaker, faces charges of attempted murder and assault as a hate crime after being accused of slashing a Manhattan cabdriver after asking him if he is Muslim.

The story brings back memories of one in Kansas from last year as the news of the murder of an abortionist began to unfold. This news also surfaced this week:

Three of the seven Long Island teenagers who admitted to being part of a gang that targeted Hispanics for violence were sentenced to seven-year prison terms Wednesday for their roles in the 2008 killing of an Ecuadorean immigrant.

The issue of hating peoples on a wholesale basis is an age old one. Even the bible tells us about the hatreds that existed between Jews and Samaritans in Jesus' day. Wars based on ethnicity have plagued the world for ages. The whole issue of prejudicial hate reminds me of an experience that I had in a public speaking class in the early 80s.

The teacher was a pretty famous acting coach from New York who was teaching our class of about 10-12 Ma Bell employees. I took him out to lunch one day at my favorite New York style deli and got to know him a bit.. as we talked I shared with him that I was taking night classes at a local bible college. When we got back to class he put me on the spot and asked me to share an impromptu sermon with the class - yeah he was a bit ornery.. many of us New Yorkers are. Here is the gist of my mini-message that day.

A verse from the Old Testament popped into my mind as soon as he asked me.. it was the one from the sixteenth chapter of first Samuel where the prophet Samuel is sent to Jesse's house to crown a new king of Israel. As the prophet sees Eliab, one of Jesse's good looking sons, he feels that he has seen Israel's next king. It is then that Samuel hears the voice of the Lord saying:

"Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."

My message to that small group of fellow employees was that we ought not look at the superficial aspects of a person like their outward appearance. To get past prejudice we must get past the externals. We must do all in our power to be like God in this.. we must try know each other at a heart level. If we do not then hate is lurking and waiting for us.

When I think of 21-year-old Michael Enright all I can feel is sad. How is it that a man this young has embraced a hate so deep? What possesses a man just starting his life to do such a vile thing? How is it that Michael has missed God's message of love? It reminds me of where hate can lead us when we embrace those hateful messages that some proclaim.

Cheesy Cyber Honking

I know that you have gotten these emails for a number of years.. you know.. those ones that end with bossy statements like:

• If you are a real Christian then you will forward this message to everyone in your contact list.
• If your love America then you must stand against evil.. and forward this message to everyone you know.
• If you want to be blessed then you must forward this message back to the sender and to at least ten other people. And they must send it back to you!

These are fairly common and somewhat laughable versions of an electronic chain letter - you remember them.. warnings abounded about bad luck that would befall you if you broke the chain. The latest strain of this phenomenon has now spread to Facebook. It seems that every day I am reading something like:

• Jesus is my Lord, my Strength, and my SAVIOR!! If you agree, press like!!!
• Copy and paste this message in your status if you want to cure AIDS!!

I was thinking about this stuff and wondering about other forms of this phenomenon. Then I remembered the first instance of this that I probably encountered.

Honk if you love Jesus!

I can see that bumper sticker in my mind's eye and.. lol.. I am honking away!

Streaming Anxiety

Do you follow the news via an eReader? Or are you a cable news junkie? Are you on your smart/cell phone all of the time? If so consider this advice from Kim Allen:

All the news you want, whenever you want it, 24/7! Alerts on the cell phone, video clips on YouTube and streaming headlines on the desktop! And with each byte of news, it's easy to react and get pulled into events - and emotions—and tune out of our own reality.
...
Don't get me wrong; being informed is important. But too much too often can turn into a non stop stress report. With all that’s going on around us, it's more important than ever to maintain emotional balance and a healthy perspective.

And for us to acknowledge that we can care about what's going on without the anxiety, worry or fear sometimes brought about by over identification or attachment or information overload.

Know when it's time to turn off the news and tune back into your life.

Just something to consider as you meander into your evening's activity.

Life after Death :: but not what you think

Last month I got a new Missouri driver's license.. the first time I have not had a Kansas license since 1976.. and yes Kansas City is in Missouri. Standing there.. taking the eye exam.. getting my photo taken.. I was asked if I wanted to be an organ donor - I said yes.

According to a Google search of the news there have been 549 recent news items about organ donors. Here are a few of them from the past few days:

• Abby DeAnda was only 17 years old when she lost her life in a tragic car accident back in 2006. Abby's father Luis DeAnda tells Action 4 News, "Through her death she was able to touch six people's lives through organ donation." The six people Abbey DeAnda saved range from age six to sixty eight.
• If it wasn't for an organ donation from an American a 28-year old Irish man believes he would have died of heart failure. He was given a donated human aortic valve that saved his life from a donor in the U.S.
• Two years after she died from injuries sustained in a car accident, Brook Peterson continues to benefit others in many different ways. Her transplanted organs have given three people who never met the 17-year-old a second chance at life.
• "Amanda was an organ donor," the obituary read, "and seven people were recipients of her gift of life." Rosepapa was a very special young woman, in many ways. But for seven people, her many achievements in life pale in comparison to one action she took: She became an organ donor, making it clear that in the event of her death, her body was to be used to help others.

What is most inspirational about these stories is that these donors were young people.. young folks who seemed to have their hearts and their heads in the right place. I applaud these young folks. Sadly when I was younger I was not a donor. I had a weird fear of being dissected postmortem. With age I grew out of it.

How about you? Are you a donor? Has someone you know been helped by organ donor?

Blogging as a Business?

Just when you thought that it was safe to put an ad on your blog Philly wants to get in on the action. Consider this clip from a CNN Money article:

The weekly Philadelphia City Paper kicked off the kerfuffle with an article spotlighting several small-scale bloggers who were startled to receive letters from the city demanding that they shell out up to $300 for a license allowing them to operate a local business. One of the recipients had raked in a whopping profit of $11 over two years from his blog. ... That's how the Philly bloggers landed on the city's radar: Those who followed the law and reported their blog's revenue to the IRS triggered tripwires set up to find local businesses operating without licenses.

Now I do not have ads on any of my blogs but I am not in favor of antics like this one. I do think that the blogger needs to claim that $11 as income.. I guess.. do the advertisers report the costs? Anywho.. I think that the overwhelming (99%) percentage of bloggers are not small business owners and should not be subject to Philly-like fees.

What is your perspective on blog ads and Philly fees? Do you have them on your blog?

Images of Islamophobia

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Thanks to Time Magazine I just added a new word to my vocabulary and to my online spell checker - Islamophobia. And, as usual, I thought that I might try to put a bit of context to the term by asking my friend Wiki:

Islamophobia is prejudice against Islam or Muslims. The term seems to date back to the "late" 1980s, but came into common usage after the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States. In 1997, the British Runnymede Trust defined Islamophobia as the "dread or hatred of Islam and therefore, to the fear and dislike of all Muslims," stating that it also refers to the practice of discriminating against Muslims by excluding them from the economic, social, and public life of the nation. It includes the perception that Islam has no values in common with other cultures, is inferior to the West and is a violent political ideology rather than a religion. 

I thought that it was interesting that Time recently asked the question "Is America Islamophobic?" on their cover when I think that, to some degree, Time contributes a bit to the phenomenon when they put images on their covers that showcase the Islamophobic stereotype. I think that these outrageous images of women being mutilated, Sunnis hating Shi'ites, and Muslim terrorists promulgate Islamophobia because the other side of Islam is not showcased.

I understand that "bad news" sells newspapers and magazines.. and maybe fear mongering does as well. But I have to ask - Are we Islamophobic? Are you Islamophobic? I am not! In the mid-2000s I worked for a wonderful Muslim guy and saw a different side of Islam than the ones painted on magazine covers. I also worked around several Muslims. I was impressed by their dedication to prayer, their humor and their friendly demeanor.. and I enjoyed working around them.

Maybe that is the way that America will one day be less Islamophobic.. if we are really that way. Maybe one day we will come in contact with neighbors or coworkers who worship Allah and we will see Islam in a different way. Maybe putting a face to Islam is the only way we will ever be able to get past the stereotypes? Maybe that is the only way to embrace an Islamic reality that is not created by Time magazine?

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A Caregivers Poem

Another day passes - It goes by so very fast...
The hours, the days, another week...
Her care unselfishly given, the mold is cast...
But sometimes, this body feels so weak.

Why did this illness strike her, I ask... why this particular time?
Sweet face of my wife in pain, I see...Is her payment due?!
Do I care enough? Give back to her! I am in my prime!!
My head hangs low, the color tone, it turns the deepest blue...

Family photos neatly placed on bedroom wall,
They reach out to brighten up her day...
Don't give up... my sweet love, don't take the hopeless fall!
Our family and children so many, we surely all will pray.

The only one who really knows?!
My moods and all that I am...
His name we call him sweet Jesus, his face in heaven glows,
He's our friend; EVERYDAY... We'll reach out to touch his hand!!

by bill weller - - dedicated to my precious and wonderful wife, Carla Jayne Weller who was diagnosed with NMO one year ago 8/6/2010.

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I first posted about Bill and Carla Weller back in March. Carla is afflicted by NMO.. the same neurological disease that my wife Ann has. I so relate to Bill's sentiments expressed in this poem. You can follow the Weller's journey at Carla's blog.

New York is Persecuting Bagel Noshers!

Anyone who really knows me knows how much I love poppyseed bagels from Einstein Brothers - I consider those round things, with a schmear of lite Strawberry cream cheese, to be a bit of heaven on earth. So my interest was peaked when I heard of this story from New York (the home of all things bagel and onetime home of Bob) about how bagels are now being taxed. Here is a Wall Street Journal clip on the subject:

In New York, the sale of whole bagels isn't subject to sales tax. But the tax does apply to "sliced or prepared bagels (with cream cheese or other toppings)," according to the state Department of Taxation and Finance. And if the bagel is eaten in the store, even if it's never been touched by a knife, it's also taxed. ... One source of confusion is that the rule isn't spelled out in the tax code. And while sliced bagels are subject to sales tax, a sliced loaf of bread at a bakery isn't, according to tax officials.

Is this a crazy story or what? Speaks to the litigious nature of our governments. When I read stuff like this I am reminded that most politicians are lawyers. This part of the law certainly seems to support the lawyers full employment act.

Mostly this would not affect me too much these days as I generally pick up bagels and eat them at home.. and I do not get them sliced.. and Einstein Brothers do not have stores in New York.. and I live in Kansas City.

What does this story say to you about the law? And are you a lover of all things bagel?

Absolute Relativism

Have you noticed my sidebar image these days? I love how "Nothing is Written in Stone" is actually written into the stone. Ever heard someone say "Everything is Relative" or "There are No Absolutes"? Sure you have. Ever think about those statements.. about how they are 'Absolute' statements on 'Relativism'? You kind of think that someone might say it like this "Maybe Everything is Relative" or "There may be No Absolutes". Pretty funny when you think about it? I think that God must be laughing.. or maybe He is crying?

I do think that many things in life are relative though. It almost has to be because we all have such different histories and experience life so differently. Sadly we sometimes condemn thoughts that are different than ours simply because a person's thought processes has developed differently than ours. We see this played out before our eyes almost every day as people making sweeping, and yet narrow, judgments on things that believe to be absolute truth and things they believe to be untrue.

On the flip-side I think that it is dangerous to embrace a world where there are no absolutes. A world such as this finds ways to explain away senseless killings in the name of a great cause.. as if the end ever justifies the means. This kind of a world seems to find ways to belittle and judge people who believe in absolutisms. A hedonistic ideology, where anything goes, is reflective of a world that embraces the idea that we are not our brother's keeper and loving our neighbor is optional. With that I give you one (of many) absolute that I embrace from the bible found in the book of first Corinthians:

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.

Love is an absolute necessity in our world. Sad that some see it as optional.

I would love to hear one absolute that you hold dear.. just one please.