James Stabile Info Blog June 2008

Entertainment

Barbara Walters has been promoting her new book on both network and cable talk shows and news magazines. Her book Audition: A Memoir seems to be a quite inclusive account of her total life - personal and professional. Sometimes we the public fail to realize that celebrities are people, too. They are human beings just like ourselves. They share with us the same human conditions that we experience. Many times their human conditions are highlighted due to their celebrity status. This does not make the problems or stresses or failed love relationships any easier for the celebrity. If anything the public scrutiny makes it more difficult to endure. We are all people. We all have the same human factors affecting our lives. Sometimes we make the right choices and sometimes we don't. In any case, we as humans should empathize with our fellow man and woman concerning our shared experiences. In Barbara's case, her book may be an eye opener for many people. She explained that if she was going to write a book, then she was going to tell it all. I won't invest and purchase the book. I will take her word for it. Many of us regular people desire to tell it all, too. I think there may be a human drive to have people understand us. Or maybe the drive stems from our own desire for self-understanding and acceptance. We should be permitted to express our feeling about our thoughts, words and actions and share these feelings if we so desire. Sometimes writing a book or a diary or a blog gives us the opportunity to take inventory of our life and come to terms with the good and the not so good aspects of our existence. In short, to make peace with ourselves. Or maybe we just like to talk about ourselves. I think the manner in which the personal exposé is presented to the public should be taken in to account when determining the motives for the writing. If it is to make money, as with most celebrities, then buyer beware. Sometimes money has nothing to do with our revelations. In any case, I have always respected and appreciated the work of Barbara Walters and will continue to do so.

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Health, Fitness and Lifestyle

For the first time ever more than half of all insured Americans are taking prescription medication for chronic health problems. High blood pressure and cholesterol are the top reasons for the prescriptions. Both of these conditions are often linked to heart disease, obesity and diabetes. Americans take much more medicines than the people of any other countries. Legal drug taking is becoming big business. Perhaps this is one of the reasons so many people are prescribed these drugs. Doctors are becoming much more aggressive in prescribing medications these days. Advertising for such drugs is out of control. Is money perhaps a reason for this increase in drugs? The answer to the rise in prescriptions seems to be a combination of all of these situations. Don't get me wrong, medication is important, necessary and life saving in many situations, but I wonder why we as a nation are in this situation. The answer may be lifestyle. Our American lifestyle is causing Americans to be unhealthy and sick when it comes to diet and fitness. We are developing unhealthy eating habits and lack of fitness readiness. These two factors are crucial to healthy living. When one or both are ignored medical consequences such as heart disease, obesity and diabetes increase. Doctors as well as patients seek an easy fix for these heath problems - pills. I think the contributing causes to such health concerns must be identified and remedied. If Americans do not change their eating and fitness habits, then disease will increase. Sadly the treatment to this disease is usually more medications. The solution should be education and healthier living.

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Politics & World Affairs

The 2008 presidential primary and caucus season will end on June 3. This has been an exciting primary season. I have enjoyed following the American political presidential selection process this year. But we have only just begun in the constitutional process of selecting a president. The general election season is already upon us. The presumptive Republican presidential nominee, John McCain has been actively campaigning for weeks. The Democratic presumptive nominee, Barack Obama has just started to turn his attention away from Hillary Clinton and on to Senator McCain. Let the games begin.

There will be much to talk about in this general election campaign. In this blog I would like to give the candidates a break this month and discuss the ballot choices that Americans will be experiencing in the general election. Why is it that you hear very little about ballot and precinct problems during the primaries, but in the general election these types of problems are usually as of late paramount proportions in many states and precincts. Yes, we did hear some rumblings about voter irregularities in this primary season, but the problems seemed to be corrected, ignored or inconsequential to the integrity of the election. There were no major challenges to ballot or voter irregularities at least none on such a grand scale as I'm sure will be come November. The main reason - a primary contest involves candidates of the same political party. The general election involves contests between people of opposing political parties. In the general election it seems to me the major political parties just do not trust each other. Each party seems to be out to win, win at any cost. Irregular, illegal and unethical practices on the side of both parties is increased because of the intended outcomes. Unscrupulous election practices tend to drive the general election results not the vote of the people. Our election process must be beyond reproach. In these contemporary times well-meaning, independent and impartial election conditions must be maintained and the vote of the American people must be counted and honored. In most of the precincts across America fair, just and authentic election results will be achieved, but the temptation for winning at any cost will be too great in some precincts. Questionable election fraud and irregularities in the election process will result. The oversight agencies of our American electoral system must work hard to provide for a fair, equitable and just election process. At all times, the vote of the people must be maintained.

The American election process must remain above all suspicion and held in the highest regard. We must be able to trust the results of any election, especially a presidential election. Charged with this responsibility are usually people above reproach, but politically active and involved. They are usually a cross section of the political party system of their local community. Most of the time they are sincere and take their responsibility with extreme pride and respect, but problems still occur. Some of these problems are inherent to the local conditions of the precinct. Sometimes the state or county election preparation is insufficient. Many times election site problems develop because of poor state and county planning. Poll workers may not be educated and trained in the proper manner. They may not be prepared for all election day situations. These types of situations should be dealt with months before an election. The complete and comprehensive planning for election day should minimize the occurrence of major setbacks on the actual day. Poll workers must be trained in meeting the unexpected demands of the mechanics involved on the day of the election. Planning, anticipation and trained poll workers will provide for a more successful election day, but problems still will develop. Solutions must be determined to provide for a just and fair election. A big problem for poll workers will be the voters themselves. It's a shame to say but many Americans do not follow directions and some have trouble reading. Many voters just don't follow the rules. They don't come to the polls prepared. They do not follow the advice of the poll workers and tend to be non-responsive when given directions. In fact many do not follow directions in general. Many voting irregularities are the result of not only administration weaknesses, but ill prepared, uneducated and irresponsible voters.

The general election is still months away. We do have the time to maintain the integrity of the presidential election process. The responsibility rests with each of us. Each voter must be prepared to fulfill the most important and paramount right in a democratic government - the right to vote for our leaders.

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The California Supreme Court overruled a state referendum that banned gay marriage. Gays and lesbians across the sate of California now have the right to get married if they so desire. Personally I do not support any kind of legislation concerning gay marriage. I do not feel that same sex relationships should be protected by marriage. I think that the American Judaic-Christian definition of marriage is the union of a man and a woman. I do not support any kind of ban against gay marriage including a constitutional amendment prohibiting it. I do support civil unions provided that they cover the legal rights of the people involved at a level equal to that of marriage. All people should have the right to select their partners and have the legal protection to abide fully in their relationship free from repudiation.

This act of the California Supreme Court is unfortunate because it will motivate those who oppose gay unions to become vocal, unite and strive for a federal constitutional amendment against gay marriages and perhaps any other type of union between unmarried people. This anti-gay marriage advocates are mainly homophobic, right wing conservatives with an agenda of hate and bigotry. This is a shame, but Americans do have the freedom to speak one's opinions. In such situations the good judgment and continued action of fair-minded governmental leaders must be called on to support the freedoms that all Americans are endowed.

People should be allowed to be free people in a free society. They should be free to live their lives in the manner in which they please. They should be able to love another and express that love in their own unique manner. Freedom is at the basis of our American legal system. Now let us insure that freedom for all people. I mean all people.

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Religion & Spiritualism

Let us tackle prayer in this month's blog. Is prayer important? Are prayers really answered? How often should we pray? With these kinds of questions I try to approach the solutions from a humanistic manner. As I have said many times before, we are human beings. We are not in heaven. We are human beings experiencing this earthly existence. Whatever we think about prayer, it must first be accepted that prayer is personal and relates to the person involved. In other words each person should have his or her own unique definition of prayer. He or she should have his or her own method of praying. One size does not fit all. The size depends on the person's attitude towards God and prayer. In any case, this prayer must be view in human terms. We are human beings living in a human world.

I believe that prayer is important. However, the words one says does not make prayer important. The attitude of the person doing the praying is the essential ingredient to that persons concept of prayer. Prayer doesn't mean asking for things. Prayer by definition is a dialogue with God. It should be a communication. When you talk to your family or friends do you do all the talking? Is the conversation one-sided? Is is always about you? Think about it. Maybe we need to improve our dialogue with each other in order to perfect our dialogue with God. I think prayer should be sometimes silence on our part. We must listen for God's revelation, a.k.a. God's answer. Sometimes we are so busy lamenting to God about our unjust lives that we fail to listen for God's answer. So, prayers do get answered, if we listen and accept the answers. Remember, sometimes the answer is not the one that we want to hear. And sometimes things happen because we are human beings and bad things do happen to every human being as well as the good things. Prayer should be our way of communicating with our God.

How often should we pray? I think our lives should be a continuous prayer to God. There is a place for individual wordy, verbose prayers, but doesn't God already know about those things? Doesn't God already know what we really need? God will give us everything that He feels we need. I said that, HE feels we need. So, why spend hours beseeching God for things that we think we need - God already knows what we need. We are human beings and sometime in dire situations like sickness and death we just need to plead for sometimes the impossible. It is difficult, but we should learn to trust in God's wisdom. If we do that then our lives will be a prayer to God. Just living our lives in love of God and one another is living in prayer or dialog with God.

Prayer? Is just communion with God. It's human in our approach, but divine in God's ear.

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Technology and Business

I read an article in my local daily concerning the fair wage of a stay at home mom. It said that according to Salary.com a stay at home mom should be worth $117,000 a year. I say, "On what planet?" That's nice, but total nonsense. A stay at home mom or dad is a admirable expression of concern for the "family", but how can one attribute a price tag to love and family life? I believe a family should decide these types of concerns in the family setting. It is and should be a family shared decision. Let's not forget that there is more than one definition of a family. Do we really want all of those definitions to be treated as a public domain question? Again, this is a private matter and should remain in the home. Another point to mention concerning wages is the fact that wage determination is not the same for all professions. Even same professions have different salary schedules for different parts of the country due in part to the standard of living in that particular geographic area. In our society the amount of "work" involved in a job or position does not necessarily determine the salary. Clerks and the like who make minimum wage are terribly underpaid. It seems to me that the more educated the person, the more status of the job title of the person and the more importance that society ranks the job usually means the higher the salary for the job and the less work actually done by the person doing the job. In fact, the people who work the hardest in our society are probably minimum wage workers. Let's face it, the American societal attitude towards work and occupations needs a facelift. Our economic salary schedules for jobs is obsolete and needs a total remake. Keep in mind that every job is important and every worker is important and should be respected and treated in a fair and equitable manner.

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Sitting in a Starbuck's with your computer, using their wireless network to connect to the Internet sounds great. I see it every day. People are enjoying their coffee and goodies at many different cafe's while accessing the internet. Sounds like heaven. What about Wi-Fi security? This seemingly technological benefit for today's computer users just may produce dreadful and financially devastating effects on the personal, financial information of many people. Even using a wireless network at home one must take the appropriate security measures when exposing one's computer to that sometimes hostile information highway. But in a public setting? I think that exposing yourself, your computer and the information on it, to the world without the necessary precautions is crazy. Logging on to a financial or personal site over a public network is like playing Russian roulette. If you must use a public network, then don't connect to email or logon to financial or sites that contain sensitive personal information. Save these functions for home use where you are protected by s secure network - wired or wireless. But why use the computer in a public domain? Enjoy your coffee and the people who are around you. There's more to life than that computer or any of the many other technological must haves. If you must be at your laptop even at Starbuck's, then review those security measures that I have written about many times in this blog. Briefly, computer and network security entail: installation and use of a firewall, anti-virus and anti-spyware software, employing phishing screening and maintaining strong password integrity. If you are not familiar with any of these security measures, then educate yourself and be consistent in employing these security measures.

Just as we should be security minded with our computers and networks, we should be equally concerned about our personal security and safety in our homes, neighborhoods and communities. We are living in the 21st century. This a great time to be alive, but it is also a time when we must protect ourselves and loved ones from abuse and illegal activity. Of course this includes the physical security of one's home and possessions. The security of our home and possessions should be matter of fact, but not taken for granted. In other words, we should employ common sense methods in protecting our material possessions and our loved ones. We should not overreact. We should be proactive in our approach to safety.

One important point that some people overlook in safety issues is the fact that we must be aware of our surroundings. At all times we should be well aware of who and what is around us and in what context do they enter our space. In other words, be aware of anyone who may be following you or someone who seems to be always around you seemingly as a coincidence. Many times that coincidence is not really a coincidence. In the same vein, it wouldn't hurt to vary your daily routine. If you always go out for your run or walk at 6:00 p.m. and always return at 7:00 p.m., then maybe your should vary the time from day to day. Don't give someone who is calculating your daily routine too much help in knowing your whereabouts on specific days and/or times. Vary your routine and don't become a target for illicit or illegal activities. Finally, you must protect your family and loved ones by educating them in protecting themselves. As I have stated before, this protecting should be viewed as a common, run of the mill, best practice kind of precaution. Your safety should never be taken for granted by you or anyone you love.

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