Hillary Clinton - Why I Like Her

In 2008 I watch the Democratic primaries and was baffled again and again as the journalists summed up the debates with the remark “definitely Obama won that debate” over Hillary Clinton.  I wondered out loud what debate they had been listening to because he virtually said nothing while Clinton gave solid answers to complex questions.  As I’ve listened to speeches that President Obama has given over the last 8 years I have not heard one speech that was memorable or one where he said very much that was meaningful or relevant to the moment at hand (although I did think one speech he gave after a mass shooting was quite good).

I have watched the 2016 primaries I once again feel that Clinton gives solid, informed answers even though politically I believe Bernie Sanders is more my type of politician insofar as the social beliefs he espouses.  I find myself wondering why the media continues to say that Hillary Clinton has a “trust problem” with people.  I don’t understand it but then again I believe that the whole “email scandal” is a tempest in a teapot and just to shut people up here and now, how many of you are aware that Cheney also had a private email server?  If anyone heard Bill Clinton's speech about his wife’s accomplishments since she was a young college student you know that this woman has spent her whole adult life working for people in one capacity or another.  I truly believe that Hillary Clinton wants to change the world for the better and I am amazed when people say “she’s only in it for herself”.

Now here’s something that I have noticed in my working life about women and women bosses.  Most women dislike female bosses, period.  I don’t know why that is but it has been my observation that women seem to have some kind of animosity over women who succeed beyond the secretarial pool, so to speak.  I happen to have worked for several female bosses and without exception I have liked them and respected them.  My last boss was a particularly strong boss with a powerful position in a big company and she was fearless in pushing back when required in order to ensure that the right decisions were made.  For some reason when women were in meetings where she would do this type of push back it came across as aggressive and yet if a man had done it not an eyebrow would have been raised.  Equating these personal experiences with Hillary Clinton I suspect that the media (and voters) have a problem with a woman who can be as strong minded as any man in a powerful position.  It is the only explanation that I can find to understand why people say they don’t like Hillary.

With regard to any politician, one must be pragmatic with respect to honesty and integrity, especially when someone is seeking to be president of the United States.  But overall, can anyone seriously think that the alternative is remotely better?  I believe history will show that Hillary Clinton has been the most undervalued candidate up to this time.

Impassioned, is that a crime?

Sometimes we can get emotional, impassioned, say hasty things, get excited.  You know, put your foot in your mouth.  I think it is a rare human being who hasn’t wished to unsay something or other.  The difference is when a person says something thoughtless without intending any harm and the person who deliberately says something vengeful and only regrets it when repercussions occur.  I think you know who I mean but let’s skip that.

I like it when a person is passionate about something even if I may not agree with that particular subject or opinion.  At least that person is interested in something.  It is much more frustrating for me to deal with someone who shrugs their shoulders, who barely nods in a conversation and generally doesn’t open their mouth to give an opinion.  Tongue tied I can understand but sitting on a fence year after year on any topic that could be broached is beyond me.  I don’t understand people like that.  What are you afraid of?  Once you are an adult, you are allowed to speak up and who’s going to slap you?  In all my years of social interaction I have never since an instance of anyone being physically slapped down for opening their mouth (granted I have never really been in a bar or seen a bar fight).  Civilized people don’t hit other people.  So what are you afraid of?  Sounding stupid?  Who doesn’t sound stupid on occasion – we may not say anything but we all think it about such and so when they’ve said this or that.  But who are we to judge? 

People need to let go of their fears and they also need to stop judging those who say or do.  At least those people are not afraid of speaking up, doing something, letting things go and getting things done.

And tomorrow I am going to talk about Hillary Clinton.  Get ready.           

Approaching the Second Anniversary

It is more than believable to me that I am approaching my second anniversary of retirement not because it has been long or dull but because I have in fact been thinking over the two very different years I have experienced.  The first year was filled with projects, new revelations and travels while the second year was spent in a quieter way that for some time had me feeling concerned.  But by January I had found my bearings and plowed ahead on a more thoughtful and goal oriented path, thanks in great part to John Maxwell’s book on jumpstarting my thinking.

It may seem very peculiar for people contemplating retirement to hear me speak of goals.  After all, aren’t we done with all that sort of thing once we quit working?  Aren’t we supposed to just have fun?  The answers are no to the first question and yes, of course, to the second.  The reason I say no to the first question is that in order to feel fulfilled after working one should really have some goals even if it is simply based around having fun.  The danger of not setting any goals is that one will simply do a few rounds of this and that and gradually sink into the coach in front of the television or computer and vegetate.  That is neither fun nor geared towards having a satisfying retirement.

Do you need a satisfying retirement?  Well, yes, I think so because what is the point of even being alive if you aren’t satisfied with life?  At a minimum it behooves one to look at the six pieces of the retirement pie (Physical, Mental, Spiritual, Social, Financial and Activity) and set minimal goals which should be assessed annually (although semi-annually is even better).  If you loath physical activity the first goal you can set yourself is “getting out of bed”, tick.  If you can’t stand to read a book, set a goal like “listen to 10 minutes of hard core news”, tick.  Not spiritual?  Set yourself to sit quiet for 5 minutes and build up to 15 – just quiet time (no noise, no self talk, just space), tick.  Social, if you hate people, get a dog, tick.  Financial, I won’t even go there.  Activity, if you can’t find an activity give yourself a mental reminder that you are most likely comatose.

Sarcasm aside, if you are reading this blog the chances are that you have some interest in having a meaningful retirement (or at the very least have a good sense of humour).  As I have said many times before we are blessed to be living in a time when we have the opportunity to retire at an age where we still have many years of post-work to evolve into who we were meant to be.  There are many ways we can enjoy the 6 pieces of pie free of charge and we should grab at these opportunities with gleeful hands.

I ask you, are you with me?

Rape and the Judge

Currently we have a judge here in Alberta going through a form of trial to decide whether or not his remarks to a 19 year victim (“why couldn’t you keep your knees together”) is cause for dismal.  I’d like to weigh in on this discussion with a few questions of my own. 

Is this man from the Dark Ages?  What age is he since he could even dream to ask a question like that of a victim?  What doesn’t he understand about being a victim of rape?  (a whole lot apparently since he has now been “educated” whatever that is supposed to mean).  Does he own a television and is he alone in the world of lawyers in not seeing at least one episode of Law & Order SVU?  Has he never seen a news report on rape victims?  Why did he chose to judge a rape case if he wasn’t “educated” on the crime?  Lastly, who the heck are you kidding?

Let’s go back to that last question and ask it of the various lawyers who have spoken out on his behalf.  Can a law professor really say with a straight face that this judge didn’t know anything about rape crimes and therefore he could be educated and is sincerely sorry?  His lawyer repeats much the same thing.

I’m looking at the pictures of this judge and he looks like he may be in his late 50’s or early 60’s, in fact I think I may have read that he was 68 years old.  The point is that this man is in my generation, give or take a few years, and I cannot for one minute believe that he didn’t know exactly what kind of an asshole remark he was making.  Not only did he know, he meant it and didn’t care one iota that those remarks could potentially damage the 19 year old victim.  When I first heard these remarks of his two years ago my first thought was the same as my last thought “what a f’ing asshole”.  What kind of a judge would dream of saying such a thing even if he thought it.  A stupid, arrogant idiot of a judge who does not deserve to be on the bench, that’s who.

Am I biased?  Naturally, I’m biased against assholes.  I’m biased against anyone who degrades what should and ought to be an institution of respect and justice.  This is the type of judge who probably is a hard liner judge who doesn’t believe or give second chances to those standing in front of his bench so why should he be given a second chance, now that he is “educated”.  What’s good for the goose mister, what’s good for the goose.

Have a nice day.

Books in Summer

The reading fare has been rather skimpy over the summer or to sound more intellectual, the books I read were big fat tomes of non-fiction which included biographies of the American Adams’ family (of presidential fame, not the comic strip), the rescue of Jews in Denmark written by an eminent Danish historian Bo Lidegaard, an anthology of philosophers and a few novels including Willa Cathers’ “O’ Pioneers” and Donna Tartt’s “The Little Friend”.  This last I have only just begun but like her other two novels it is very “unputdownable”. 

I have this image of other people laying in darling hammocks under wonderful spreading oak trees reading great novels all summer long but for myself I much prefer laying in my bed with pillows propped up under my head and shoulders, my trusty reading lamp turned on, and me just peacefully reading.  When I read outdoors I find the glare of the sun on the page most irritating and the sounds of all nature around me highly distracting.  It isn’t long before I put down my book and start down a path to weed the flower bed or scoop grunge out of the fishpond.  Outdoors is for outdoorsy things and reading belongs indoors in a quiet place away from all distractions.  Or so I say.

I cannot imagine life without books and I pity those people who can’t find pleasure in reading.  While I am sure many people have pity on those of us who find perhaps too much joy in sticking their nose into a book I can only say “try it, you might like it”.  For sure there is balance in all things and it is indeed joyous to work outdoors during the good summertime but since I really, really dislike the cold I find snuggling with a book so much more fun than wading through snow while my cheeks are bitten raw by a Nor’wester.  As an afterthought when I am reading I am so absorbed that I rarely feel a craving for food.  And that is a bonus!

I already have a pleasurably high stack of books awaiting the winter season sitting primly on my nightstand.  Alright, not so primly but rather jumbled in various sizes, angles and conditions.  But oh, do they ever look inviting!  Let the reading commence.

Autumn is Here

Speaking artistically the mornings are crisp but in true factual fashion they are getting darn chilly.  One day last week as I let the hens out I noticed that the grass was very damp and then on the trek back to the house soft frost had actually developed in those few short minutes.  Autumn is definitely upon on as I become aware of the shorter days, letting the hens in at night around 7:30 and letting them out after 7 in the morning.  Why am I so conscious of the time?  Last winter I read that foxes are particularly sly and are most likely to pounce on the oblivious hens at dusk or dawn therefore it behooves me to outwit the fox.

Over the last week or so I have begun digging up my potatoes and again found myself disappointed in the small amount of potatoes under each plant.  I thought something was very wrong and so I inquired of a girlfriend who had been raised on a farm what could I be doing wrong?  It turns out that my “hilling” technique was inadequate.  Little did I know that I ought to have covered the plant right up to the leaves and even over the leaves.  I had merely put dirt a little higher than to the first level of leaf.  “Bury the leaves, even?” I asked.  “Yes” she answered.  Wow, new knowledge to be stored away for next spring.  Meanwhile I wondered how I had gotten so many potatoes in the past and I realized that the person who plowed my field must have hilled my potatoes along with her own without my knowing it.  Lesson learned, be more observant and ask questions of those who have done this before.

I planted 8 hills of zucchini but only 2 came up with a third starting very late in the season so I have to wonder what happened to the other 6 hills.  However, the 2 mature ones are yielding enough zucchini for myself with a few extra to share with a couple of friends.  Next year I will have to plant even more if I want any for my country fair.  Along with the zucchini I will plant my pumpkins which again have merely bloomed and bloomed.  This year I did see a quarter size fruit appear several times but then they disappeared (either eaten by the hens or simply dissolved in neglect?).  I suspect I planted the pumpkins in an area with too much shade as well as putting them in the ground rather late in the season.

The final lament of the summer has to be “why didn’t someone predict rain on a daily basis”?  If I had only known that it would rain almost every day for 2 and a half months I would have planted more bushes, trees and water loving vegetables in the field.  Now isn’t that the voice of a farmer?