Spotlight on a Design: Isaiah Angel Bear.

It started with a couple of Bible verses (listed here in KJV):

Isaiah 6 :  The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.
and 65 : The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent’s meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the Lord.

The idea that nothing would hurt or destroy on God’s holy mountain was such a peaceful, appealing idea. It still is. I love animals, and apparently the whole predator and prey system will be changed on his mountain. As a member of a species that seems to be hurtful even to its own, I find it such a hopeful promise that someday, that even the animals won’t be like that. And if the animals won’t be, than maybe we won’t either.
No more bashing politicians. No more mocking over insignificant differences. No more fighting and killing over money, land, or race.
Right now, we must leave the wild animals wild or they will be killed, perhaps for poor reasons like sport, by accident like being in the wrong place and hit by a car or understandable reasons like food.
But some day, maybe we too, can cuddle up with that previously wild animal. The bears really will be teddy bears. The wolfs will be as friendly as dogs. A lion may be a bigger wilder but still gentle cat. And we can be friends, not enemies or competition for resources.

That’s my idea of heaven. Where lost loved ones are reunited and new friends of all species are made, and previous ills are just a nightmare that fades away in daylight.

 

Sad over Politics Teddy Bear

All the heartbreak and anguish of people suffering made me do it. All over the failure of political leaders. I do not blame either party. I, for one, blame parties in general. Both groups in deadlock, refusing to yield until the little people cry in pain. Party labels stick people in a box. The agenda must be this or that because of the label.

People don’t fit in a box. they live and breathe with their own hopes and dreams. Sometimes the dream is greed. Sometimes its misguided. Even people who want the best don’t agree.

I hate politics. To me, every political campaign is like listening to the worst behaved children yelling ‘he hit me’, ‘he broke my doll’, ‘he broke Mrs so and sos window, don’t trust him!’
This is our choice for leadership? It’s mind boggling. Its horrifying. And I don’t believe any of them at this point, even when they claim to have the same beliefs I do.

Speaking of same beliefs, I’ll admit freely I have doubts that the government even belongs in some areas. Where do they get off closing ‘public’ parks? Don’t those belong to ‘the public’? And for politicians not to take their messages is pure cowardice. They know people are upset. They just don’t want to hear it.

In reality things like health care and other issues should never have needed to go so far. The fact that something needs federal regulation means its broken on a lower level.

For instance on a somewhat less ‘hot’ note: The tennessee walker shows were so rife with corruption the feds stepped in.
Tennessee walking horses and the protection against ‘soring’ – a practice of putting painful chemicals on their legs to make them step higher in shows were so prevalent, it required federal intervention. How pathetic, that as many horse lovers as are out there, the horse industry couldn’t regulate itself. No, in spite of many chances, greed won out and the horses kept suffering.

Which means greed won on a lower level. But what happens when the greed has infiltrated so high up the feds themselves are involved? Then everyone suffers. Who is left to regulate?

So, I express my own discontent in my usual fashion: with my art. Not a new bear, but newly used with different background and text.

Patriot’s Day: Light in the Darkness

Patriot’s Day is coming.
Or, as it originated: 9/11. The day known as 9/11/01 when terror struck America. It hijacked and crashed planes into the Twin Towers of New York and the Pentagon in DC. And it had unexpected side effects: it revealed what we would trade for freedom and what we would do for strangers in an emergency. It showed us our best and worst.

How it affected people may have depended on their situation. For instance, I didn’t even know what the ‘twin towers’ were. The internet was just coming into it’s own, for me and I didn’t much read the papers. The papers tend to take a news event that could be one sentence and complicate it into a page. So I rarely bothered.

But I do live in Virginia and therefore, it was pretty close to home. My Grandparents in Arlington said the house shook. My friends and I, horseback riding in a National Park were turned back as all National Parks were closed. And given how often one wished the traffic would clear up, one suddenly decided that was not entirely a good thing when it did. The streets were eerily empty.

But one thing was amazingly, brilliantly clear: the results were not what the terror seekers expected. There were indeed negative side effects. Security tightened and freedom’s compromised. War, just or not, was triggered. But so was sheer heroism and outpouring of generosity.

People sacrificed their lives to save strangers. They ended up with long term health effects after battling horror to find wounded. They gave more blood than could be used. They gave money and supplies. They came together to heal the wounds and comfort those directly affected.

Naturally there was the bad too. People wanted to blame someone and sometimes those even suspected or who looked like muslims were targeted. But even there, people stood up in resistance. The women of one Christian church rose up and wore the veil to show solidarity and support the muslim woman who were being harrassed. Interfaith groups sprang up to create mutual understanding.

Some people who don’t believe in God, say ‘where was he?” Even some who do say that. I say, he was right there. He was the wounded and the healer. He was the fireman running in crumbling buildings. He was the worker who helped a coworker escape.

God doesn’t make the bad happen, and if he allows it, it’s to remind us of the amazing good we can do when we are paying attention. We get lost in our own little problems: tomorrow’s bill, the kid’s bad grade, the frustration with a colleague. We miss how much bad we could easily prevent or the comfort we could give. It would be easier if there was more too it than money: some of us don’t know where to go to volunteer, or have the money to help. But somehow, in a big crisis those things are overcome. In the mini crisis, we often just shrug helplessly.

But we are better than that. We can be. Because: Here is a shock….GREED IS NOT PATRIOTIC. No. The self sacrifice, the reaching out to help, that was patriotic. So let’s stop pretending patriotic wears an elephant or a donkey badge, or runs a big corporation. It’s not sacrificing freedom for security either. Patriotic in American terms is a risk, and has been since the Revolutionary war. It’s also not getting Government do everything for us: because that gives them to much power. We don’t want them to hinder us either. We just want them to make it possible to do what needs to be done. Enable education, roads to get us to work and health care and safety laws so we are able to work without being abused for a paycheck. Food for here and from here to let our farmers have livelihoods. Finally, protection from an enemy who would destroy our freedoms: including themselves and their big corporations when they get too big headed to fit through the average office door.

Wake up on Patriot’s Day America. Be what you say. Real Patriots. People who care about each other because it’s the American thing to do.

Teddy Bear Patriotic Card by Starhorsepax Designs
Teddy Bear Patriotic Card by Starhorsepax Designs
Patriot Day Fireman Pug by: RITMO BOXER DESIGNS
Patriot Day Fireman Pug by: RITMO BOXER DESIGNS

Happy Labor Day! – Spread the Appreciation

It’s not enough to get Labor Day celebrated as a holiday. That’s just a start.

I love the concept of Labor Day, but I do think there should be more to it than the whole grilling and sales idea. In fact, I have to point out if the store is open, someone is laboring! Seems to me, we should be taking stock of what we can do to truly implement Labor Day and appreciate laborers everywhere. We should reward the ones who encourage ethical behavior in employees, as well as treating them fairly, deny those that don’t our dollars and insist that they also get their products from those with safety and ethical standards.

Let’s reward the companies and small business that really do appreciate the employees, encourage honesty and customer service.

How about a sudden stream of customers for that store that is proven to reward the employees for a good job. That means whether it’s a local shop or even a chain store: for a chain store to pull it off, they might well not be agreeing with company policy to do it. So how about showing that ‘company’ that you prefer this individual link in their chain’s method of doing business?

Don’t support those companies who misuse or abuse the laborers.

That means everything from pressuring to work and shortchanging their pay to not shipping the jobs to a country that has no safety standards and even less pay. That’s a hard thing to do, I know, given that Wal Mart is on the list. And I’ve been in shock over their treatment of the employee who reported the dog in the hot car. Seriously? Forcing employees between ethics and a paycheck is just wrong! I’m sure Wal Mart is NOT the only place who has done this.  I know it’s not always possible, but we can try and even in trying, we can, en masse, make a dent. There are two things that get their attention: bad publicity and profit loss. One leads to the other.

Let’s reward the ones that demand safety and ethical practices in their products.

Why we are shipping clothes from countries that allow their entire work force to be put at risk, because they have bars on the windows and not enough exits. That reeks of slavery. I don’t want blood hidden within my clothes: blood of workers because the store saved a few pennies on safety in a foreign country. And the things I’ve heard about the chocolate industry are horrifying. I DON’T WANT MY CHOCOLATE TAINTED BY SLAVERY!  As for animals, I realize some are not concerned with ‘animal rights’ and ‘welfare’ and figure it’s just for vegan/vegetarians. But how that food is cared for until harvesting matters to our health.  Don’t we have enough health issues without that? Why would you want to eat a sick animal? Whereas an animal slaughtered cruelly in fear leads to stress hormones in the meat. Personally I’ve enough of my own, I sure don’t need the animals! And no, I am not a vegetarian.  How we treat animals is a reflection of how we treat people. People will eat that meat, and odds are, if it’s unhealthy and unkind for the animal it WILL have affects on our own health. As for the plants: well that too affects are health. (It’s also not in our best interest to let someone patent plants that through mother nature’s whims, wind and insects will spread. Do we REALLY want some large individual company in control of the food supply? That’s a terrifying thought!)

If you do have to go shopping today, don’t forget to say ‘Thanks’ to whoever is by the counter.

Thanks for working on Labor day, so I could get the steak for the grill or the sale price. You might just brighten their day.

Finally, the best reason to do all this isn’t just because it’s Labor Day.  It’s because we are all laboring at something and what happens to laborers matters to us all. It’s the difference between mouthing American ideals and patriotism and really meaning them. Otherwise what are we, but hypocrites? I think, and hope, we have more potential then that.

Labor Day Relaxing  Card by Sue Taylor
Labor Day Relaxing Card by Sue Taylor
Labor Day Americana Teddy Bear card by Picture This
Labor Day Americana Teddy Bear card by Picture This

The Horse’s Revelation of Societies Weakness

Well, here it is. The summation of much of the world’s woes, as once again, revealed through the horse world. The fox guarding the chickens. The corrupt judge sitting over his son’s trial. The blind man driving the automobile (no offense to the blind intended, the way technology is headed, it’s only a matter of time).

The first is that the BLM went back on it’s word and went ahead with a mustang roundup they’d promised and sworn was cancelled. Color me shocked. A branch of the government, lie to it’s citizens? Of course they would. What bothers me is that no other branch of the government seems interested in holding them accountable. You have perjury and animal cruelty in one fell swoop, yet no one ever arrests them. What does it say about our government, that it is no longer being held accountable to it’s citizens for such misuse of funds and power?

The second is this bit of news of the confusion over slaughterhouses. Now the Native nations – and for the moment, I won’t try and sort out which ones – are apparently divided, with some in favor of it.  Some still believe the horse is sacred and are firmly opposed. But the others claim ‘overpopulation’ and ‘overgrazing’ and  insist that slaughter would solve their problems.
I can’t help note that if so, they should be trying to get the slaughter plant, with its associated environmental hazards on their own reservation land. Apparently they don’t mind foisting it off on someone else. They don’t seem to be vying for the jobs associated, they just want the horses gone.
I don’t claim to know what the ratio of horses to other livestock is on the Native reservations is, or whether they have a problem. I do know slaughter isn’t the answer. But it’s a sad thing to think that people some of whom have been called ‘people of the horse’, and for some of them, still think it sacred, would consider this an acceptable solution. What is it about today’s society that people are so ignorant and determined to remain so in the name of greed and convenience?

Third, is the trial of the Tennessee Walking Horse trainer. Now what makes me shake my head at this is on the Ethics committee of the Tennessee Walking Horse Trainer’s Association. Ethics. Oh, really, ethics. The man thought nothing of soring and intentionally injuring these animals for a ribbon, prize money, or trophy. I can’t imagine why anyone would reward anyone for cruelty. But the idea of the man being on an ethics committee!! It’s incomprehensible. Talk about the blind leading the blind!

 

References:

Highly Recommended:

I'd rather be riding a Tennessee Walker Bumper Sticker
I’d rather be riding a Tennessee Walker Bumper Sticker, Available at Zazzle
Mustangs Stand Up for Their Freedom T-Shirt
Mustangs Stand Up for Their Freedom T-Shirt Available at Zazzle

Where People and Wild Animals Collide

It’s been a hard day.

I had a first hand encounter with the world where people and animals blur. I hit a bear and a bear hit me. No, it wasn’t a boxing match. It was a jay running bear rushing across the road. No slamming on of the brakes would prevent the collision. The bear cartwheeled impressively as a gymnast over the hood and into the woods.

I pulled to the side and cautiously got out and stared at my car, wincing. Badly bent, my Neon now had a front end like a Volkswagon bug. My headlight was gone, even the bulb. I went back to the back bumper and peered back toward the woods. No movement, no body, and a sense of self preservation said don’t look too close. If it’s alive, it’s upset. The following drivers checked to see if I was okay and I carefully climbed back in the car and drove on to work.

Once well clear of ‘possible upset bear’ zone, I got to work, pulled in the parking lot, popped the hood…and winced as my fingers hit slime. Leaking. Opened hood. Crack. Bent radiator. Old car. I’m….in….trouble…..don’t have money for this. No car, no get to work… Might be totaled… had to be towed home.

I still remind myself the bear was probably hurt worse. Either that or it was made of rubber. And I do feel bad.

I wish there was a way to teach wild animals to look both ways before crossing the road.

Tuesday Teddy Tips – Benefits of the Bear

Hi

I’m Vernon. I’ve been around awhile, and seen a fair bit. Please don’t be put off by the fact that I’m a teddy bear. Give me a chance.

My first ever ‘teddy tip’ is about how people can benefit  from the company of a teddy bear.  

There is a myth going around that a person outgrows a teddy bear. That only someone immature carries it after they are a little kid, much less a grown up.

I assure you, this is a myth. Recent polls have shown that far more grown ups take a teddy to bed than was thought. A third of Britons admitted it. I don’t know about other countries, but I’m sure other countries would find similar results.

This makes a lot of sense. Grown ups live very stressed lives. They worry about bills and sickness and stuff that …. well, if you think of it that way, it could be a grown up might need the bear even more than the child!

Recently, we discovered a bit of fascinating ‘teddy’ history that we had been ignorant of. During the World Wars, British soldiers went into battle with teddy bears! Yes, really! They had eyes set high on their head and were called ‘soldier’ or ‘sweetheart’ bears. They were made by a company called Farnell, for the supply of teddies from the heretofor primary ‘bear maker’ was Steiff in Germany. And since Germans were who they were fighting, no more teddies were coming from them.

So if it wasn’t immature for a soldier to carry a teddy into battle with maybe an picture of their family, a letter, a small Bible (I’m guessing here) than surely it’s okay for everyone else! Are people in the twenty first century too wimpy for teddy bears? Are Americans so insecure that their teddy bear would seem inappropriate.

I sure hope not.

 

To Protect and Serve – When to thank and When to say no.

To Protect and Serve

It can be kind of discouraging to see so  many bad reports in the news about police officers. To be fair, if all of the police were bad, then it would no longer be ‘news’. Therefore, it must not be the rule (I hope) but rather the exception. We have fifty states with heaven knows how many cities, towns and counties. Some are better than others. We need to say thanks more often for the good and heroic service as well as objecting to the abuses.

Nonetheless, when I see the reaction of their fellow officers, their chiefs, and the rumored ‘thin blue line’, I get concerned. An unchallenged poor code of conduct is unlikely to change. This should not be ‘us against them’. We are the citizens that pay the salaries of these people. Unchecked, the attitude may spread and grow. It may even get worse, as people go from military (fighting ‘America’s enemies) to police (fighting civilian bad guys) they may label the wrong people and apparently, forget they are still in the US and subject to our Constitution.

Here are the areas these bad apple cops are falling short (in no particular order):

  • Ignorance of Dogs
    First off, I keep seeing dogs shot or attacked for just being dogs. This suggests an ignorance of both dog behavior and the law. Clearly they need some training in telling ‘attacking’ dog from ‘scared dog defending it’s turf’ and better ways to deal. Dogs are everywhere, one of our favorite two pets and it’s too easy to correct for this. Surely, a volunteer from an animal welfare group could come in and give a few tips?
  • Ignorance of Mental or Physical Illness
    This is understandable, but not acceptable. Yes, there are lots of bad guys. But if  in a crisis, the guy or gal who refuses orders might be mentally ill and literally be incapable of answering. Good grief, what if they are not on drugs or alcohol, but are diabetic, having a stroke, or having a bad reaction to honestly prescribed medicine? When they are full of bullets, tasered, or even dead, ‘oops’ is not an acceptable answer! Even if the 99 people before fit the ‘addict’ label, number 100 could leave a dead or injured victim for all the wrong reasons.
    That kid apparently staring at the police may be thinking anything, but that is not illegal. But they may also be autistic or something. Going tough guy on them will only aggravate the situation.
  • Ignorance of the Law.
    This is kind of ironic, given that police are supposed to be law enforcers. How can they do that if they break it themselves? Sadly, dogs are considered property, not family members. Still, killing an animals is at least, ‘stealing’ it from the owner. You cannot replace it if you find you made a mistake. Therefore, you are now no better than the guy you were pursuing to that family.
    Worse, things like attacking someone who you ‘suspect’ or demanding to use someone’s house as a base of operations and attacking him/her on refusal, mistreatment of prisoners and/or similar behavior is illegal. Period. No exceptions. As in, not ‘local’ illegal but ‘nationwide unconstitutional’.
  • Extreme Short Sightedness.
    People call the police now for things previous generations would’ve just sent kids to the principle’s office or called their parents.  A kid looks at the police a certain way and gets hassled for how they look at police. Then there is the officer that just opened fire and killed a bunch of kittens in front of little kids.
    These all have one thing in common. They fail to take into account how the kids or people involved will feel about the police and react to them in the future. The police are supposed to deal with criminals, not discipline a kid, who hasn’t yet matured enough to outgrow some stuff. The guy that shot the cats could easily have insisted the little  kids be taken elsewhere, or called for help moving them to a new location. (No, I don’t like that they were killed at all. But that’s really not the point.) The fact that he wasn’t even seen to try and find another solution has left an indelible memory on those little kids. Cop = animal murder. I don’t see them calling the cops when older, do you?

The question: why do we need petitions for this stuff, why don’t their fellow officers take a stand? I can hope they do without doing it publicly, but sometimes it needs to be public. After all, doesn’t the entire department suffer if a lawsuit is filed over it? Doesn’t the job of the other officers become harder, because those kids grow up fearing or hating cops?

It takes courage, and a lot of it, to stand up to peers.  Someone, preferably one of their own, needs to remind them they are not gods, not always right and always have something to learn. Everyone does. Pinning on the badge is supposed to show you are going to be strong for those who need you. It’s not a sign that you are not an ‘official bully in power’. It’s a hard job, and if it’s thankless, sometimes it’s because the few make the rest look bad. And it certainly can’t be easy on families. Switching between ‘strong and in charge’ to ‘compassionate’ and avoiding falling into the gaping hole of being a bully can’t be easy. And I’m sure the best way to do it is for the police to check  each other, rather than wait for public opinion to bash them over the head.

Cameras are even in phones and freedom of internet and press are part of our country.  Those colleagues and in charge should remember this. Instead of throwing up a wall, they should encourage education. Got someone who doesn’t deal with dogs, who shot the pet? Enforce a leave  involving some ‘dog’ education in animal behavior for alternatives to shooting. Got someone who has a furious parent because their autistic child was misconstrued as disobedient and got hurt? How about some education about that kind of illness. That way, we would see progress. I’m sure there are volunteers who would be happy to help. We’d only be calling for the heads of those who don’t care, who keep insisting on ignorant, bullying behavior, rather than the ones who made an honest but tragic mistake.

And for those who do stand up and do the right thing, for those who resist letting another officer get away with something that a regular citizen would be arrested for, Thank You! Thanks for saying no. We aren’t asking you to be a rat or a snitch. We are asking you to step in and stop that infection before it starts: give it an education and consider it another way to polish the badge.

Congratulations Police Academy Graduate Card
Congratulations Police Academy Graduate Card
Angel in Disguise Thank You Card
Angel in Disguise Thank You Card

 

 

 

 

 

References:

The Bad Ones: (I won’t even try and list them all!)

The Good:

The All American Colonial Horse Breeds

Horses were high on the list of what the earlier settlers needed. They were needed to pull the plow, take the family to church on Sunday or go to market. They were also the means of entertainment, giving rise to the challenge of which horse was best at his job. Which horse is fastest? Which pulls the buggy or runs under saddle fastest? Which does the fastest and best job pulling the plow.

Which breeds began first in America?

The Morgan was one of the first. He hailed from Vermont and the prolific little stallion became known as ‘Justin Morgan’ after his owner. He was also called Figure.  He was described as a tough little all around horse, able to pull the plow during the week and participate in races on the weekend. These were both in saddle and in harness. These days he’s still a strong show horse, and many other American breeds show traces of him in their ancestry. During the Civil War, they were used as calvary mounts.

The Quarter Horse is one of the most popular breeds in the world. This horse is often synonymous with western events. But did you know his ancestry starts in  Virginia? His ancestors include the thoroughbred and the morgan. The most famous thoroughbred sire for the breed was Janus. Eventually, he moved west and met up with the mustang, which contributed to his lineage. The breed was standardized out west.

Quarter Horse Dreams Postcard
Quarter Horse Dreams Postcard by starhorsepax
Design your own custom picture postcards at zazzle.com , This design is also available on a mug

Plantation Walker AKA Tennessee Walker
Originally born for the southern plantation owner to ride his land in smooth gaited comfort. This horse went on to become a prized show horse. He is also a wonderfully smooth trail and pleasure horse. His show career however is tarnished by the horrors of a practice called the big lick. That high stepping walk comes naturally, but some trainers use boots, chains and chemicals to make them step higher. It’s a shameful thing, because this is truly a lovely breed, sturdy but refined. The breed is most famous for it’s association with Tennessee, where the breed standard was finalized.

Claims to Fame:
Of Morgans: One of them was General Sheridan’s Rienzi, AKA Winchester. Another one was named Ethan Allen. Rex was a silent film star.

Of Quarter Horses:

Buttermilk (from the Roy Rogers show: added note for those watching the horse slaughter debate. This beloved horse was taken off the slaughter truck!)

Justin AKA Doc’s Keepin Time (Black Beauty, The Horse Whisperer)

Of Walkers:
Trigger Jr. (One of Roy Roger’s horses) and Champion (One of Gene Autry’s) were Tennessee Walkers. Note that there was more than one ‘Champion’ and more than one ‘Trigger’, they were not all walkers.

Of Crosses:

Champion (Gene Autry’s original) was half morgan and half quarter horse.

Obviously, these are only a few of America’s horse breeds. More on the others later.

References

SwansonPetersonProductions: Equine Film Stars
Screen Junkies 10 most famous horses

Happy Fourth Of July! – May the Right Spirit Win!

Independence Day

Looking back on our founding father’s woes, its not a shock to realize that we have been a nation divided almost from the start. In order to get all the colonies to agree on the Constitution, they had to let a few things go. The biggest thing was slavery. Pretty ironic, that in order to get a free nation, the founders had to agree to leave some enslaved. Of course, the natives of this land were not considered at all.

The division is there to this day. Getting rid of slavery did not get rid of the problem. The real problem was greed, people putting their business over human life. They might be more subtle about it, but they are still at it. Whether it’s conniving land from mustangs and wild life for cattle and mining, or cutting corners to stuff more animals for slaughter into a farm, they care more about money than their fellow beings..

That’s the real secret of American freedom. That freedom’s cost isn’t just sending people out to defend it. It’s about defending it from greed right here. It’s about saying no to something because it curtails freedoms.  But it’s not so easy to identify it. There is so much demanding our time and attention, it’s easy to just focus on issues we believe affect us.

That’s what the sophisticated greedy think. If they throw enough one sided info at you, maybe you won’t notice they are not telling you everything. Maybe you won’t notice the lies.
For instance, I hear all sorts going on about jobs and the big pipelines. On the other side, I hear about environmental risk. Truth be told, I’ve yet to hear or see anything that told both sides at once. Now the truth is, they are both right. We need jobs, but that doesn’t mean we’d be willing to literally pay with our health or the destruction of our land. Some things, you can’t pay to fix. So the real question is, if these people want to be helpful and run their business and create jobs, why do they think the pennies they save are worth the cost of safety?

My point here is, when it comes right down to the wire, America has two spirits vying for control. One is that wonderful spirit of freedom, independence, help others and creativity that inspired it in the first place. The other is that stubborn pride in money that refused to sign the Constitution if slavery was banned.

That second spirit has new forms now. It hides in businesses that say ‘we are creating jobs’ while cutting corners for profit and dumping toxins that make people sick. The people with those jobs lose either way, because even if you earn money and have health insurance, you end up spending on health care, assuming even that will cure them! They also claim that while dumping huge amounts of money into their account they can’t pay the workers any more.
What’s terrifying is how these people respond to challenge. They take advantage of  their funds to pay for lawyers to get them out of it. Worse, some government agencies are in cahoots. The way the Bureau of Land Management is run, you’d think that land all belonged to them personally, rather than the citizens of America.

I believe when the average person celebrates the Fourth, we are celebrating our freedom, the hope of that chance to not only have a job, but a fulfilling life. But do we? I hope so. But we have to keep battling that other spirit. Gunpowder can make for fabulous fireworks. Our country is full of magnificent creatures, wild and free.  It’s up to us to do our best to see they are their for future generations. It’s up to us to save that gunpowder for the fireworks and not waste in blowing each other up. It’s up to us to keep our authority figures reminded that we elected them to serve us, not their own wallet. To remind the big corporations that without their workers and buyers, they have nothing.  To remind the police that they are there to protect and serve, not bully the people who essentially are paying them.

So here’s to the Fourth of July and our continued fight for independence. May the right spirit win!