The Non-Trad Manifesto

Target Audiences, Mandatory Retirement, and Shutting Out People Past 50 are Discriminatory Practices and Should Be a Civil Rights Issue!

2012-02-13T14:46:00.000-08:00

Hi Readers,
I'm writing this blog in the Uptown McDonalds and eating my Chicken McNuggets as I do so. Now to the topic at hand. People some times treat mature people like aliens or a virus. This is very unfair! We are just like you, it is just that we have more experience doing it! We have a wealth of knowledge to offer the World if only we weren't ignored. But the demi-gods of the demographic police think the only ones that we should pay attention to is the 18-40 age group! Now, what knowledge does an 18 year young and I mean very young have to offer? The very young get all their knowledge from their Kindles and I-Pads not from experiencing it!

Society treats us much like they treat Native Americans. Instead of the reservations they shoved American Indians in they shove us in "Retirement Communities" like Sun City or in Senior High Rises. Like the Native Americans They want us out of sight and out of mind. If we are featured in a TV report,We are portrayed in a stereotypical role like the WCCO TV Grannies, which I feature in a previous blog. Oh yes, aren't we great glove knitters? Forget glamorous mature people, we are only shown with out dated grey hair, Gnarled wrinkled faces and no hint of sexuality!

From what I see and I watch alot of TV and am on-line every day, I'm the only mature person raising a ruckus! My com padres and commadres are too brainwashed by society to think there is something wrong here! And it is very WRONG!

This dissing of us is ruining our chances of gainful employment! It forces early retirement of respected journalists just because they are nearing 60, we could use their experience and knowledge plus their wisdom to understand World and national issues!

There should be a swell of mature people marching much like the Occupy Movement to Media Conclaves, Industries that have Mandatory Retirement, and Cosmetic companies that never feature women past 60!

We must be people that are full of vigor, sensuality,and a GREAT WILL TO LIVE! NOT people preparing for death lethargic, and too lazy to walk (power chair users). Let's get a movement started and get respect!

I am taking a short hiatus from writing this blog. I will be preparing to move to another apartment in another city shortly. I should be raring to go again soon like around April. I will miss you all and I hope the feeling is mutual. I'll visit Facebook from time to time. See you soon!

A Question to 40+ Men- What's so "Cool" about Having a Bimbo on Your Arm?

2012-01-24T14:45:00.000-08:00

Hi Readers,
I have one of the answers to my question. The celebrity programs and award shows make it look "Cool" to have a barely post pubescent woman on your arm if you are a maturing actor. Only the younger actresses are featured and oohed and ahhed about. Commentators never describe women past 50 as the sexy star in the movie, Sizzling Saturday(fictionalized). If A very sexy actress like Raquel Welch IS on a program she is told what I call the death knoll "You look very good FOR YOUR AGE!" Society is very cruel to mature women! We began to be sexually castrated at the early age of 40. Men see this and begin to dismiss us as marriageable and date able material. This leads to bimbo hunting fever! As a mature woman, I find it hurtful!

Another reason is that commercials featuring mature women only feature us in medical ads or ads that show us not ambulatory(power chairs) or not able to breath(oxygen aids) or shopping for death insurance! They even make us unable to get in a standard bathtub! They have us sitting on the edge of the bathtub(fully clothed in a white bathrobe) cluelessly trying to get in! Who gets in this way? You just lift your leg and get in. The other way is the most dangerous way.

If that wasn't enough, mature women are dressed in clothes that may have come from The What Not to Wear dumpster! The clothes have no life no zest. They don't need to use Versache but at least clothes that make us look like we have fashion sense and that look sexy!

Commercials have to use lively hues that are pleasing to the eye. Safe Step Walk in Tubs have all the life sucked out of them. It's adventure's in White Matte Land! The people all have a ghostly or vampire pallor! Are they Grandpa and Grandma Cullen?

Men have to realize that yes, even women past 60 can make exciting love and have high libidos. We make much more interesting pillow talk too! We have seen some history in our lives and can talk about it with knowledge from life not from a Kindle. Most mature women want to love and take care of their man. We want love too and have tons of it to give back to you. I have so much love pent up in me with no man to present it to that I feel it might burst!

My preferable range to date is 35-55 but I would love to date someone closer to 60 if I could find a healthy(one that works out), handsome, well educated(like a lawyer,doctor,or media person), and someone that would accept me as I am. I tried to get men closer to my age but they wanted younger women.

Finally, Men have to get off their Lolita fetish, I believe too many men have pedophilic tendencies. The Youth Adoration has to end! Men should want mature women who are attractive and intelligent, someone that understands them instead of little girls that want to use them for all they can get! A REAL MAN wants a REAL WOMAN if he can't accept the challenge he's a pedophile wanna be!

What Makes a Good Religion?

2012-01-22T14:37:00.000-08:00

Hi Readers,
Before I get into what we will be discussing I want to discuss what I see are the main functions of religion. This blog is meant for people that have critical thinking skills and not easy to brainwash. These are skills you need to have a happier life. You have to live for you but you still can be an effective parent, job holder, and still think for your self. I'll touch this subject more later.

What is the function of religion you ask? Religions main function is to provide spiritual peace in your heart, It should be a place where you go to meditate and be a de-stressor. You should be able to pray to your interpretation of God when you are in a dangerous situation for help to get out of it. A religion should give you a general outline to live your life and teach you how to be happy and successful. A religion has to encourage you to work for the common good, not to be selfish, not to be racist, and not to harm your temple(your body)!

Now let's get into the hard stuff! I have set up a scoring system about different facets of attitudes or teachings of various religions. If a certain religion passes with a good idea they get Good=5 stars * * * * * if not they get Bad= a frown:( . I will be talking about the major religions:
Christian with some commentary about individual sections.
Judaism
Islam
Buddhism

A religion should help the poor and reach out to other countries to help them establish churches there and provide aid to the poor. Christians, especially Catholics-Good* * * * *

A religion should not use alcoholic beverages in their celebrations like church festivals or meals. Islam- Good * * * * * Christian- Bad :(

A religion should not claim to be pro-life(anti-abortion) if they condone Capital Punishment or Rendition style punishment (like water boarding) Christian Evangelicals- Bad:(

A religion should not endanger it's member's health by Draconian fasting, with 12 hours of no foods or liquids which can cause dehydration and binge eating which causes obesity! Islam-Bad:( Catholic-Good * * * * * Because of moderate fasting during Lent.

A religion should rescue members from other countries if they are being mistreated Judaism-Good * * * * * Jews were rescued from Russia during it's change to becoming The Soviet Union during the Pogroms. They also rescued Ethiopian Jews and emigrated them to Israel.

A religion should be goal oriented and put their members in a step-like program to reach a state of serenity or peace. Buddhism-Good* * * * * They have a four step program that takes you to a serene existence.

Now I'm going to tie up the loose ends. As I have said in previous blogs, I don't see the human body as an article of sin on the contrary it is God's Work of Art so why should religion see it as an abomination? Out of church or the mosque or synagog a person should be able to dress as they please within community standards of course. If it's a hot day a woman should put on a tank top and short shorts, I do. I see no sin in that! We own our bodies. Churches or Mosques can set up dress codes in their buildings but not when you leave their properties.

This is a special message to Islamic women, I know it's been tough since 911 on you and your sisters. My daughters are Muslim Converts. If you came from a Muslim country maybe men would get a wrong impression of you if you weren't wearing an hi jab but in this country it's not the case because not many women wear them. The late Osama Bin Ladin put a Kick -Me sign on you when he committed the carnage of 911. Some law enforcers are religious profiling when they stop you on the road. It would be better for you not to wear hi jabs, I'm sure Allah would understand and want you to blend into the crowd. Muslim Pride can be in your heart you don't have to show it. You can't tell other women's religions. It's a security issue!

Finally, Religion should stay out of politics after all this is a secular country and there is a separation of church and state. Theocracies don't work and citizen's rights are taken away. We, Americans have fought for the right to be free! The Conservatives and Evangelicals want school prayer, this begs the question; From what religion will we choose the prayer? It just isn't do able. If you are shopping around for a religion, I hope I've helped you. One more point, if you agree with most of what the religion teaches but have problems with some of the rules just follow what works for you. Just work for the common good and be a good person and you will do just fine!

A Thinking Person's Voter's Guide

2012-01-19T14:50:00.000-08:00

Hi Readers,
This guide is for people that actually want to be told the truth. Some people are actually afraid to know the truth. They are afraid to make up their own minds, they seek wisdom from their church or Fox "News", which is a shill for the Republican/Tea party. The Fox crowd are usually Evangelicals( America's answer to The Taliban).Economically, some are part of the 99% but they play the role of the masochist to the Republican/ Tea Party's sadist! Then they wonder why their income dwindles and they never catch a break. Duh, too many of their like minded lemmings voted Republican and thus they are in charge of The US House and many state's legislators. Some states, like my state Minnesota, have a Democratic governor and both houses are Republican. Isn't that a schizophrenic situation? What this country needs is to be on the same page to work for the common good. This guide will steer you in the proper direction.

First-A Voter's Guide to Media With The Best Political Information
Ever since I have been a volunteer in two presidential campaigns I have searched for media that seems to be on the cusp of reality. During the Kerry/Edwards campaign I usually watched CNN and The CBS News with Dan Rather. At that time, Dan Rather seemed to be the most reliable source of political information. One thing that made him stand out was that he wasn't afraid to take on George Bush II. I have no respect for journalists who play chicken! Journalist are supposed to seek out the truth and let the chips fall where they may. CNN at one time had great journalists like Bernard Shaw, Peter Arnett, and Rick Sanchez but now they are too bland.

It wasn't until I became part of Team Obama that I found my political soul mate, while surfing through the political channels. I just happened upon MSNBC. The program that was beginning was "Countdown With Keith Olbermann. I was watching with my eyes glued to the screen! I was thinking, "At Last, I have found what I was looking for!" Keith is the best political commentator I have ever seen. He isn't afraid to speak his mind. He, like me doesn't suffer fools either. If a politician isn't at the top of his /her game Keith will call them out and ridicule them. This is fair because only the most intelligent and knowledgeable should run for office. Keith is just weeding out those who shouldn't be holding public office. That same night after his program was the debut of The Rachel Maddow Show. She is good too. I would put her third on this media list. She is good in the weeding process too and has just the right amount of sarcasm to make it interesting.

Rachel is still on MSNBC at her same time spot, 8PM CST and they repeat her show throughout the evening. MSNBC however, started giving Keith a hard time. They suspended him because he made campaign donations to Democratic candidates (which should be his business) They finally let him go. The only way the public could follow him was on Twitter and watch for his Tweets. I am one of his followers.

Keith is back now on Current TV! "Countdown With Keith Olbermann" is on Current TV nightly at 7PM CDT. His program is repeated too throughout the evening. The other political program I will recommend is also on Current TV, It's called "The Young Turks" It is broadcast at 6PM CDT. The main Turk is Cenk(pronounced Jenk) Uygur. He is another member of the Keith Olbermann style of political commentary! He is passionate, pulls no punches, and suffers no fools! He is a Turkish/American and is also an attorney. He is sarcastic too. I love it! So get your political info from:

Keith Olbermann -Countdown With Keith Olbermann
The Young Turks- Hosted by Cenk Uygur
The Rachel Maddow Show

The Voter's Guide : Who to Vote For
I would be tempted to say Vote Democratic all the way but there are Democrats and then there are faux "Democrats." Joe Lieberman is a faux Democrat. This was especially embarrassing because he was Al Gore's Vice Presidential running mate. In the 2008 Presidential Campaign, Lieberman came to St. Paul MN to The Republican National Convention at The X-Cel Center and endorsed John McCain for President of The United States. He was a traitor! There are also Republican like Democrats, like Ben Nelson who fought President Obama all the way on the Health Care bill. He made it more difficult for the president to pass other bills too.

I will say that if you are part of the 99%, which most of us are, vote for Progressive Liberal Democrats! Most Democrats have your back! Most have experienced poverty or a middle class existence in their lives! President Obama's mother got Food Stamps so they will understand what most of us are going through. They, unlike many Republicans, weren't born with silver spoons in their mouth! Let's fill the Congress with Progressive Liberal Democrats and let's fix our crumbling infrastructure creating jobs and upgrade our educational system! Don't be one of the lemmings and jump off the cliff with the Republicans! GO OBAMA& THE DEMOCRATS!

Respect-People Hunger For It and Some Will Grovel For It.

2012-01-10T14:48:00.000-08:00

Hi Readers,
My subject today is "Respect" but this begs a short tutorial on "Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs." Abraham Maslow created a chart stating the needs of all human beings. It is usually illustrated in the form of a pyramid. It is divided in five levels, starting from the bottom, the first level is Physiological Needs( to quench your thirst, eat to end your hunger, and other bodily functions). The second level is Safety Needs, this is to make your life secure, which can be all the way from your residence that protects you from the elements and harm to a security system you install. It is what you do to protect yourself from harm. The third level is Social Needs, simply put, people need people and people need love. The fourth level is Esteem Needs. This tells us that we all need recognition for what we have accomplished. We all need to have a high status and if we aren't there yet we are working to get there! This is where respect comes in because if we aren't respected our esteem level plummets to the bottom! Ah, sound the trumpets! The angels in Heaven are singing a chorus of Hallelujah. We have reached the pinnacle of the Pyramid, Level five, Self Actualization! THIS MEANS YOU'VE MADE IT! You have mastered all the levels below.

In my own life, I am trying to reach level three. In this down and dirty world we happen to live in now respect is hard to come by. I have never felt much respect, I have experienced more back stabbing then back slapping. I have always felt like an outsider. My face is still looking through the window with all the gaiety within. I yearn for respect and to get kudos for my achievements.

The thing that keeps me going is the fact that I know I have talents and I'm hoping some intelligent person will come along and like what he/she likes and will hire me for a media position either in print, TV or Radio. This blog is part of my "live" resume.

Celebrity is not the same as respect! Respect is when you are being honored for a great achievement or when you get a recognition for humanitarian works. Charlie Sheen is a celebrity but he has done nothing I have heard about that has improved the this countries status. He is not a humanitarian. He is self centered and mentally challenged.

I am not impressed by wealthy people because wealth doesn't mean the person has high intellect. Some people that are wealthy may be good con-artists, think Bernie Madoff. Wealthy people that have come from the bottom and with hard work that is legal and make it to the top are more interesting. I was born with a rusty spoon in my mouth so if I somehow make it to the top, NOW THAT'S A STORY!

Now days Respect is given to those who don't earn it! Oprah Winfrey is a very self absorbed person. Her program reminded me of films I saw of David Koresh speaking to his Branch Davidean disciples. It was more like cult followers then a studio audience. The guests would come to the stage in supplication to gain honor from goddess Oprah! She went over board on giving things to the audience and starting a school in Africa. Remember she is a billionaire and there are tax write offs for much of what she did. It's called getting better Neilsons!

There are some wealthy people that do deserve respect. Bill Gates the founder of Microsoft, who gave half his fortune to the poor. Andrew Carnegie who started The Carnegie Library System so people all over the USA could go to the library and rent books to read for free. There was a Carnegie Library where I grew up in Hayward WI. I spent many hours there.

I have observed people who try to brown nose their way to respect. It doesn't work. A higher up may throw a crumb or two your way but you need to stand tall and confident to get respect!

I want this to be the year that I get more respect. I want my blog, The Non-Trad Manifesto to get more followers and be featured in TV news stories so my face and thoughts can lead me to a talk show! I want my oldest, Mary Kneisl to end our estrangement and come back to her REAL FAMILY! I want to reach the pinnacle of the pyramid and be self actualized!

New Year's Resolutions- Keep an Eye on the Big Picture!

2012-01-04T13:28:00.000-08:00

Hi Readers,
Most people think of New Year's Resolutions as minor actions to better one's life, like exercise more, don't drink to excess or give more to charities. This is all good but it is not thinking about the big picture, it's living life in the minutia! Small steps may be OK if your a toddler learning to walk but as adults we are held to a higher standard. We have learned the basics of survival(at least you should have learned them) like take care of your body, get plenty of rest, and don't overeat. But we keep slipping back into unhealthy habits like smoking, drinking, and using recreational drugs. This will be repeated in your life unless you look at the big picture and change your whole way of thinking! You have to replace the tapes that are making you rationalize these activities as my business or Grandpa Joe smoked and drank and he lived to 90!

When I started drinking I thought I was a "social drinker" nothing wrong with that! I didn't drink everyday or every week but when I did I binged and drank and drank and drank. I spent the whole weekend in a stupor. In the hangover phase I purged and felt like I was going to die! I felt ashamed about what I did when I was drunk. I blanked out and laid in bed and the room seemed to be circling around me! Thanks to meeting my ex-husband, who had a year of sobriety when we met, I quit drinking September 6 1980. Last September 6th I celebrated 31 years of sobriety! Now the thought of drinking is ab horrible! It is best to take the big three killers out of your life! Don't tell me you can't, YOU CAN! If you claim to be very religious and continue to smoke, drink, and use recreational drugs you are a hypocrite! I used to wonder how some people got religious spirit listening to religious music sung by Elvis(a heavy drug user)?

Since I have been sober a new world has opened up to me! I started out as a high school drop out now have a BA in Communications from the prestigious University of St. Thomas, which is located in St. Paul MN. I have been a licensed Reserve Teacher and worked for No Child Left Behind as a Test Scorer. I have delved into the political arena as a volunteer in two presidential campaigns and as a delegate in two Minneapolis Democratic conventions! I have even become a Lay Minister in The Catholic Church.

I'm not bragging, I'm trying to inspire those of you that think it is your preordained destiny to be a (trying?) to quit smoker or drinker or a junkie! You can get help to get clean but then to stay clean you have to only have clean friends! Hanging with smokers, drinkers, or junkies is not only hazardous to your health but hazardous to your sobriety or staying clean! In AA they have a saying, "Stick with the winners!" That's what you have to do!

A new year is a time to make make a NEW YOU! I am having my eyebrows and chin waxed tomorrow. This my first step i n what I hope will be a transformation in 2012. I am going to start next week to exercise at least twice a week(Tuesday& Thursday) at the YWCA and lose the remaining weight I need to and flatten my stomach. Sunday I will start using The Meaningful Beauty Program from Cindy Crawford. If it works I will continue using it.

I also hope this blog you are reading and the Diaries that I write on The Daily Kos will help me get a writing or on-air job in the media! The Daily Kos link is: http://t.co/NNA9ztgv via@dailykos
I hope you read me there too. I have 1 follower there. I need a great deal more followers here and there!

In order to make big changes in your life you have to eat healthy and take multivitamins. You also need to exercise and if needed color your hair if it has gray strands. Make 2012 the best year in your life and most productive. Happy New You!

Ali Karimi-A Great Grandson

2012-01-02T13:52:00.000-08:00

Hi Readers,
This blog is a change of pace. I am honoring my grandson, Ali Karimi, who is eight. He is the grandson who I gave the most care to. I also have a great deal of firsts with him! I saw him take his first steps, when I was babysitting him.When he was born I was the first to suction his nose to clear it.

He has brought joy to my life and some challenges. He is a very handsome child and when he turns on his smile on you, you melt! He is very strong too, he helps his mom, Manuela Karimi(my middle daughter and one of my twin daughters) carry in groceries,he also helps her with her housework.As with all children, he melts down once in awhile.

He is in third grade and is a brown belt in Tae Kwondo. He started at Bally Swim and Fitness but will transfer to his Master, Maurice's New Marshall Arts school.

I love him very much and now he has a baby brother, Amin, to pass his knowledge to. Amin is anxious to be like his big brother Ali!

2011 A Yearly Revue-The World-The Nation-Minnesota-Me

2012-01-01T00:28:00.000-08:00

Hi Readers,
I have started writing this blog at exactly 11:31 CST. I will let you know when 2012 comes in by saying 2012 has arrived in parenthesis. Watch for it! This my last blog in 2011 and my first blog in 2012. This is my blog's first Birthday! I wrote The Non-Trad Manifesto for the first time on New Year's Eve in 2011.

This blog is going to review the top 5 happenings in The World, The Nation,Minnesota, and the top 5 events in my life. I will be stating the event and adding some of my opinions about it. So here we go.

The Top 5 Events Around The World in 2011
1. The Protest Marches in Egypt- The unrest in Egypt over the Hosni Mubarek government that led to his ouster gave other Mid East countries the courage to oust their dictators. It happened in Yemen and Libya but Syria is still killing it's citizens. The Egypt uprising played out around the World too, especially Twitter. I was reading tons of comments from Egyptians about what was going on in the streets. I become a follower of a gentleman from Dubai and he follows me on Twitter.
2. The Economic Meltdown in Europe(Welcome 2012)
As it is when one or two countries economy's go belly-up so goes the World! Greece's economy was very fragile so was France. This led to The USA's economy trying hard to get better.
3. The Beatification of Pope John Paul II
This is the first time in my life that there is a person who lived in my lifetime was on the way to becoming a Saint.
4.The Tsunami in Japan It was a tragic event and created a major ecological disaster in Japan and precipitated a nuclear plant to spew nuclear waste throughout the World!
5.The Killing of Osama Bin Ladin I realize Bin Ladin did horrible deeds including 911 but I'm a pacifist and don't believe in killing people. It would have been better if he was captured and brought to a criminal court in the USA!

The 5 Top Events in The USA in 2011
1.The Occupy Wall Street Movement With the beginning of The Occupy Wall Street Movement, it was a wake-up call to the slumbering electorate. It spawned Occupy Movements in several cities throughout the USA and some in other countries. Even in my city (Minneapolis MN), more on that later. Zuccotti Park became a shrine for the poor and unemployed. Keith Olbermann gave the most attention to the movement of all media outlets on Countdown With Keith Olbermann on Current TV.
2. The Lowering of USA's Debt Rating This means it will be harder for The USA to get loans from other countries.
3. The Teapublicans trying to destroy our government Because of The GOTEAP there was several times our government almost shut down because of Teapublican intransigence. The most recent example was the tax cut bill almost failing because of junk amendments being added to it by the elephant men and women. The 99% would suffer the most because their paychecks would be smaller due to more money taken out of it. The unemployed wouldn't get their checks either.
4. Severe Weather Throughout the Land This includes earthquakes in New York and the Eastern shoreline. It damaged The Washington Monument in Washington DC. The Joplin MO and North Minneapolis(more on this later) Tornadoes and extreme fires in California. La Nina was having a field day.
5. The Most Dragged Out Ending of a TV Show(Oprah Winfrey) Oprah showed how insecure she is. She had to ratchet every single tear out every single guest and and multiply it by 10! I was never a big fan of her anyway but our local channel (WCCO-TV Channel 4- Minneapolis- St Paul MN) ran her program twice a day. She is too much of a me-me person instead of a we-we person ! She spoke too loud and had little intellect.

The Top 5 Events That Happened in Minnesota in 2011
1. The State Government Shutdown This made it hard on laid off government workers, the tourist industry, and state parks. Government services were shut down and parks were closed to the public. It was hard for sportspeople to get their licenses too.
2.The North Minneapolis Tornadoes A large swath of North Minneapolis was damaged by the May tornado. I walked in my former neighborhood to see what was damaged. It was a miracle that both my former residences weren't damaged! I wrote two blogs about that situation.
3.The Teapublicans take Over The State Senate and The House Now this wasn't Minnesota Nice! We need people to work for the Common Good not the 1%!
4. The First Democratic Governor Since Rudy Perpich Governor Mark Dayton is a refreshing change from Tim not so Pawlenty.
5.The Reopening of The Metrodome in August December 12 2010 The Metrodome roof collapsed because of a blizzard and snow piled up on the roof. The Vikings had to play two home games in other stadiums, one in in Detroit and the other in TCF Stadium. In August 2011 They had a reopening party, I went to it and had a$1.00 Dome Dog and $1.00 Fries and got a piece of the shattered Dome roof.

The 5 Most Important Events in My Life in 2011
1. The Birth of My Grandson, Amin Karimi on April 30th He is such a joy and oh so darling! He is ahead of his curve and wants to walk so much he gets frustrated.
2. Marching With The Occupy Minnesota Movement to The Metrodome on a beautiful Sunday Afternoon If I DID have a bucket list one of the top things I would have wanted to do be a protest marcher, well check that off.
3. Writing this blog, The Non-Trad Manifesto and Writing a Diary on The Daily Kos I am now a commentator and have two outlets for my ideas. I hope it gets me a job this year in the media!
4. My Daughter, Margaret Gachuzo, Treating me with Tickets to Orchestra Hall to see The Opera Der Rosenkavalier in Concert Form It has special meaning to me because it was the first opera I attended when The Metropolitan Opera was on Spring tour in 1974. My mom, my daughter, Mary, and I saw it at Northrup Auditorium.
5.Being Alive and Healthy I will talk about this Thursday in my blog about New Year's Resolutions. Watch for it! Happy New Year!

Christmas 2011

2011-12-25T17:25:00.000-08:00

Hi Readers,
This is probably the best time to analyze this Christmas. It's hours are waning and it is still fresh in our minds. Most of you probably spent it with your family by going to church, gathering around your Christmas tree, and opening up your presents. That was what I did with my family, when I was still with my daughters and briefly with my ex-husband. After my divorce, my twin daughters and I spent my first Christmas without my ex with my firstborn daughter and her family. It was a nice Christmas!

You may ask me, how was your Christmas this year? It was as good as can be expected when you live alone. Yesterday, I went to Ascension's version of Midnight Mass(It started at 4PM, with carols at 3:30). It was very good. I went home and made a carrot cake for Christmas and New Years. Later, I watched a concert of Christmas carols sung by students from The University of St. Thomas set in Orchestra Hall. It was on Channel 2(TPT). I watched the 10PM News on Channel 11 then I watched The Midnight Mass from The Sistine Chapel, Pope Benedict was the Presider. Today, I ate my Christmas Dinner at Denny's on Lake Street and happened to run into my ex-husband there. He picked up the tab for my meal. Now I am writing this blog.

Since all my children are married and live apart from me, I don't watch a lot of Christmas programming. It kind of hurts because They aren't with me on Christmas because my twin daughters converted to Islam thereby, they don't celebrate Christmas and my firstborn and I are estranged. I do celebrate the Birth of Jesus by attending church but I don't decorate my apartment. I see the decorations at the places I go.

Christmas was the best time of my childhood because it was the only time there was peace in our family. My parents seemed to broker a cease fire from the constant arguments and physical fights that occurred the rest of the year. The decorations and the tree seemed magical like a fairyland in the semi dark living room! I was mesmerized by the Christmas carols on the radio and when members of our extended family came bearing gifts which they put under the tree. There was talk and laughter as we all gathered around the kitchen table eating the delicious food my mom made. It was a facade but it felt good to make believe we were a happy family! It was too fleeting though! As soon as the tree was denuded of decorations and all signs of Christmas were packed away reality raised it's ugly head!

From the reports I see on TV and read in the paper business was good this Christmas even though our economy sucks. That's good but I hope it's better next Christmas and that unemployment is way down.

I keep praying to God to find me a tall handsome man that will love me and be my soul mate. I also want to get my career in the media going. I hope 2012 is the year it will happen!

Watch for the New Years Eve edition of The Non-Trad Manifesto, it's a yearly review of 2011 both personally and important news events. It's also The Non-Trad's first birthday!

Christmas- A Sacred Holiday Being Dragged Through the Mud!

2011-12-18T15:04:00.000-08:00

Hi Readers,
This a blog that will explore "The reason for the Season". Christmas is a sacred Christian holiday celebrating the birth of Jesus. I am not going to discuss whether this is the exact time He was born or if other factors of the story were accurate but these are the days that most Christian churches are preparing to celebrate His Birth December 25th! My faith, Catholicism, prepares four weeks before Christmas calling the time Advent. Our church also begins a new liturgical year each Advent season. This is a Year B season that will last until the 2012 Advent Season. Year B we use the Gospels of Luke.

I am telling you this because society's over commercialization of this sacred holiday has hit a new low! A new movie using Christmas in it's title, is spawned by the druggie drunken Harold and Kumer franchise! It reminds me of the Dean Martin "Christmas Specials" where he had scantily clad girls hanging on him in a bar scene. He was playing drunk, whether it was real or faux I don't know but it wasn't respectful to God! I have no problem with Santa Clause because he was based on St. Nickolas and it is a good message to share your gifts with others especially at a Salvation Army Kettle or Toys For Tots. But cheapening Christmas with an excuse to get drunk at a Christmas party or using a pro-recreational drug message in a "Christmas" movie is unacceptable!

I don't like The Radio City Rockettes being included in Christmas programs either. There is a group in The Twin Cities that does religious dancing. I have seen them at St. Olaf Catholic Church in Downtown Minneapolis. They make the mass more joyful and very artistic but with dignity. They should be included in TV Christmas specials.

Producers and those in charge of making TV programs should make their movies about Christmas or TV programs dignified but entertaining. They should invite Jesus back into the mix and talk about His Birth and have little children gathered around His Crib. It's acceptable to have a few respectful non-religious Christmas Carols, like Happy Holiday, We Wish You a Merry Christmas, and Walking in a Winter Wonderland! But keep the sex, booze, and drugs absent!

Remember we are Celebrating God! At the rate this decaying society is going, we'll have, "A Christmas Special With Hugh Hefner at The Playboy Mansion" are we that crass to accept this sacrilege? I HOPE NOT!

Can Everyone Play?

2011-12-09T19:43:00.000-08:00

Hi Readers,
I want you to picture this scenario, this is from a female perspective. This is based on reality but right now I want you to think about what you would feel if you were this mature female watching TV in a afternoon to unwind and relax. You grab the remote and click on the TV. You happen upon a commercial for lip gloss, as you sit and watch it, the announcer is telling you that this lip gloss makes your lips look young and delicious. There is a before and after comparison and the lips look somewhat better in the after shot. The model is about 30 so you wonder if they will show you a model that is more your age, they don't! The show starts, all the actors and actresses are in their mid 20s to 35. You ponder, "When is my generation going to be represented?" There is a commercial break, finally there is a mature woman on the screen, she has white hair and is wearing a dress with faded colors that looks frumpy and outdated. They are selling power chairs. The women and men are overweight(not enough power walking) and are seen spinning around in their chairs( it's about the most exciting thing they have mature people doing in commercials). This is repeated throughout the day and night. Mature people hardly are represented in most programs and the only commercials that use mature actors and actresses are for power chairs, Oxygen aids, and of course the death preparation commercials. The word is mature people are sick all the time, incontinent, and had better get ready to pay for their cremation or burial so they won't be a burden to others! It kinda makes you feel that they don't want us around! We are also portrayed as unromantic, not adventures, and having no idea of what is stylish. Now, would you like this image forced upon you? I think not! The only program that I have seen that portrayed a mature woman in a good light was, "Murder She Wrote" starring Angela Lansberry as Jessica Fletcher. She was always dressed properly for any occasion. She was stylish and glamorous. Angela is a beautiful woman. In the show she spoke up to people that tried to use the age card on her. She also had a romance with Arthur Hill. She started off with a manual typewriter but kept up with times and used a computer to do her writing. She was brave and had a lot of adventure and wasn't afraid to speak her mind but in a classy way.

Now the only way mature women speak up is in Black Exploitation Sitcoms with loud scatological grandmothers, of the Tyler Perry ilk. They try to make Betty White seem naughty but it is just double entendre that this Puritanical country thinks is daring.Mature women should be given the honor of being thought of just as sexy as any other woman. I want younger women to think of me as competition for men!

Actors and actresses should always look their best, that means color their hair at the first sign of grey. Males should have hair restoration and both should use anti-aging creams or plastic surgery and if needed to keep up their appearance. This is their bread and butter, it can keep the guys in leading men roles and the women as eternal femme fatales! This is where they can make more money so it is in their best interest. Of course, no smoking, drinking, or recreational drug use.

We are going to enter the year 2012 soon so let's play fair with mature people and show respect. End mandatory retirement, eliminate the "O" word when conversing and writing news reports or books, use mature or maturing to describe people, and treat us like everyone else. Don't call us sweety or stereotype us as vulnerable. Let us climb into the sand box of life and play with you!

Losing Connection Losing Humanity

2011-11-27T15:07:00.000-08:00

Hi Readers,
This is part two of the double header this week. I hope you all read my love poem yesterday, if not, do so!

I ride the bus to get where I am going and I also enjoy the occasional conversation that happens between other riders and myself. I also use it for checking out handsome men that I may be interested to get to know and possibly date. Since my 1997 divorce, I have met some guys that led to dating some longer then others but at first it was my Love Bus. Not so much recently though. People are disconnecting from other riders. They gaze at their cell phones like they are mesmerized! I know that they are probably checking their e-mails or going on Facebook but they are missing out on getting to know the person sitting next to them!

I live alone and am still trying to find men that interest me on Facebook and sometimes MySpace but MySpace never got me the results I wanted. I was interested in two guys that turned out to be scammers. I lost nothing but the time I wasted on the e-mails I sent them but it was very disappointing! It seems maybe my best bet is to meet someone in person.

I have a cell phone but I just make one or two calls per trip and I occasionally text when I'm bored or no one is paying attention to me. I am a people person and open my arms to the World! I am choosy who I let in my World now because of some past experiences that were negative but just to have a short conversation with another human being I am open to. This is not the case with some people.

It's not only on the bus but in coffee shops too. People are on their laptops or cells and seem like they are in their own little World! Public places are a great opportunity to explore other cultures and other ways of thinking! Instead, I sometimes flirt with some good looking guy and it's like I'm either invisible or transparent, they look right through me! I usually dress casual but I always look neat and in the summer I wear sexy clothes. I like tank tops and short shorts in the summer.

People seem to have trouble conversing with other people. Especially, younger people, they have trouble carrying on a conversation with an adult. They are losing the command of good English grammar because of the rap and hip hop culture! They will be sorry in the future when They want a job in corporate America! They should be told to practice talking without the slang and pigeon English!

This country had better hone better communication skills if they want to be successful because people that come from other countries speak better grammatical English then we do. Most foreign school teachers use the British style of English grammar. We also have to reach out to fellow human beings to be part of humanity!

A Love Poem For My Future Soul mate!

2011-11-26T16:51:00.000-08:00

Hi Readers,
I am using a different format for this blog because I am writing a poem. Enjoy!

A Love Poem For My Future Soul mate!
With all the love the world can know I love you!
My heart skips a beat when you arrive.
When we're apart I become so so blu
So I try to always please you, I do, I really strive!

Your manly body, I can't resist to touch.
Your sexy eyes make me weak in the knees.
When our bodies meet sparks fly very much.
So please love me and please don't tease!

You are the greatest lover I ever had!
The others were just a practice for you!
Your lovemaking is so good it can't be bad!
I hope you feel the same about me too!

So get in bed with me and let us cuddle.
Whisper how hot I make you feel!
Without you my life is just a muddle.
So let's commit and seal the deal!

I hope you liked it. Tomorrow will be a standard blog titled,"Those Who Cut Off People, Cut Off Life!"

Let's "Occupy" Reality and Work For The 99%

2011-11-19T15:38:00.000-08:00

Hi Readers,

The Occupy Movement came in the nick of time, the USA was in a slumber. Younger people were focused on The Jonas Brothers and Mily Cyrus and the more hard core youth on rap and hip hop "music". The middle class were focusing on the Kardashians and "Real Housewives"of you name the city. The general population watch cooking shows and feign sophistication by wondering what wine goes with what.

Life in the ghetto was the same ole same ole, young Black or Hispanic youth shooting and killing each other over Turf Wars to sell their drugs or pimp their prostitutes. They did this to the sound of rap or hip hop music blaring from their 'boom' cars or some clothing store selling their hip hop costumes.

The Occupy Movement is a much needed wake up call to this nation. We are now talking about issues of substance! Issues that are important to our survival! This nation has allowed itself to become hedonistic! Seeking pleasure without regard to whether it harms others. Creating "Reality " shows that reduce human beings to subjects of ridicule and harm!

Tru TV, The WWF, and programs that show home videos where people are being disrespectful or doing dangerous stunts that can cause injuries or death are the most egregious! Unless you're blood thirsty, how can you get pleasure from watching people getting beaten to a bloody pulp? More mature people made objects of ridicule? Programs where every other word is bleeped? Nero would be jealous, If he were alive he would say," I wish we had television back in my day.The Colosseum would be rocking! All the killings could be shone in all Roman Empire!"

Since Occupy, we are talking about what the results of greed has harmed our nation like loss of jobs at the expense of fat corporate bonuses, foreclosure of homes financed with sub prime loans to risky clients, and union busting by the wealthy to better exploit their employees !

It is no accident that our nation is so addicted to harmful substances, mind numbing TV programs, and creating villains where they don't exist. I'll open your eyes with three questions. I want you to ponder these as I provide the answers! My goal here is to make people THINK! How do the MOST HARMFUL legal recreational drugs, Alcohol and Nicotine get grandfathered in by the FDA as a legal substance? The lobbies paid by the Tobacco industries and the various Alcoholic Beverage industries. The congressmen/women from states that grow tobacco leave their concision at the door and do their bidding. Same with people that sell alcoholic beverages,they are no better then drug pushers!

Why do Public Television and Radio have to fight for funding all the time from the Congress and Senate? It's because Conservatives nee Republicans are afraid of a strong Public Television because the documentaries it would produce would facilitate a more informed electorate. Also it would give people a chance to have their own programs. I could be on the air with my ideas but I would probably be called a subversive! Cable was supposed to be a place for new ideas but because major media companies have bought several cable networks, thereby creating monopolies. This stifles creativity and thus gives voice to mediocre TV.

Why did Hip Hop and Rap get popular so quick? I some times believe conspiracies can happen! I am merely stating my own idea but I think that they were thought up by a White racist to destroy Black people! What better way to destroy a people then by getting them hooked on "music" that espouses violence against the police, women, and makes it's men look like a buffoon with their pants almost falling down? It also has infected elementary children, I was a substitute teacher and had trouble telling some children to sit down and do their work. They were up gyrating like they were on a hip hop video!

The wealthy want us all to remain uneducated and uninspired! Keep sitting there drinking your beer watching the WWF and leering at the women. They want to keep us grunts and let their scions be the kings! Let's keep on Occupying and reverse this scenario!

Occupy has a good example of what it's about. She is Dorli Rainy. She is 84 and is part of Occupy Seattle. She was pepper sprayed while talking to some of her friends by the Seattle Police. She appeared on Countdown With Keith Olbermann on Current TV. I totally agreed with her sentiments, especially when she talked about the fluff on TV. Right on Dorli!

Campaigning For Barack Obama Can Be Fun!

2011-11-10T19:33:00.000-08:00

Hi Readers,
If you have never volunteered for a political campaign you may think it is all business and boring; maybe some campaign organizers are and don't know how to keep their volunteers entertained. Not The Obama Campaign! This was the best run campaign that I experienced, this was my second presidential campaign. I worked as a volunteer for The Kerry/Edwards Presidential Campaign.

I was at The X-Cel Center in St. Paul MN when Barack Obama made his speech after all the primaries were over. He was then the presumptive candidate of the Democratic for President of The United States! It was a speech of healing after a hard fought race that later was between him and Hillary Clinton. He is a great orator and he persuaded me to sign up and become part of Team Obama, when the sign up sheet came my way. But his speech didn't get the media buzz as much as when him and his wife, Michelle did the "fist bump"!

The Obama Campaign imported campaign workers to live with host families in different cities so they could work with local organizations and get the lay of the land. I lived in North Minneapolis and my campaign supervisor was from Nebraska. He was only 23! We met at an informational meeting at at the North Minneapolis house where he was staying along with other volunteers. It was just an informal conversation where we spoke about our views and our experiences. Very low key and user friendly, I felt very comfortable and looked forward to the campaign ahead.

I had been on the phone bank awhile and the big night was just about to happen, The Acceptance Speech in Denver! Barack Obama was going to make it official, and accept the nomination of The Democratic Party for President of The United States! Now I had two choices, 1. stay in my 1 bedroom apartment and watch the speech on my TV or 2. go to a "viewing party" either at somebodies home or larger venues and be with fellow supporters. I chose option 2! I chose going to the Trock-a-dero! It was closer and I only needed to take one bus to get over and back. It was a night club that had a large dance floor. They played music before the speech and served food too. I was unemployed so I just had my usual Diet Coke. It created more of an atmosphere like you were watching the speech at the stadium! After the speech people could linger but I just did one dance and went home.

The campaign headquarters was always a place full of one liners and we told a lot of jokes! I was musing to the worker besides me and said,"How does McCain think he can be president, when he doesn't even know how to send an email?" Another campaign worker said in dead pan," Remember Lincoln and Washington?" We all laughed!

Finally, My supervisor became friends with me and we follow each other on Twitter and he is one of my MySpace friends. Campaigning can be fun if you have a great candidate like Barack Obama! I have signed up for another tour of duty and am part of Team Obama again! For campaign information go to: http://mybarackobama.com/2012Calendar.

I am writing more about presidential campaigns on a Diary I write on The Daily Kos under the name blondmama. Watch for it Saturday!

Love Scenes For Mature People- Tepid

2011-10-31T13:41:00.000-07:00

Hi Readers,
Last night I was watching an episode of NCIS On Demand. The synopsis of the program stated that it would introduce Ducky's girlfriend. As you probably know, David McCallem plays Ducky, the forensic pathologist. McCallem played a secret agent in the sixties on Man From U.N.C.L.E. He was a dashing figure then and still looks great. What I am focusing on today is the fact that mature people are able to do just as passionate love scenes as younger people! The scene I am talking about is when Ducky is sitting on the sofa with his girl friend, they have a conversation and skirt around the subject of romance. Ducky gets closer and looks like he is about to kiss her but then moves away. They end up dancing a little close but the mood is lost!

This seems to be the way it is for mature people as far as Hollywood is concerned. As I said before in other blogs, the media has castrated mature people! If you are a mature person this is a BIG problem! It is especially true if you are a mature woman. The media influences people's perceptions of everyone! Let's be real, the media is the GREAT STEREOTYPER! Mature people are placed in a little covey hole of grandma or grandpa ghetto! The description, grey or white hair or receding hair, heavily lined faces and necks, and lifeless clothes that look like they came from a What Not to Wear dumpster! Mature activities are playing the grandparent role with children or socializing with separated gender activities. The activities are slowly walking at curio shops or knitting(for women) and fishing(for men)! BORING! The only place that we are featured constantly in is power chair, oxygen aids, walk in tubs, or insurance for funeral ads! A new one here in Minnesota is two white haired women sitting at a restaurant with humongous menus talking about ordering cremation like they were talking about ordering a car or a couch! The main media message to mature people is not to fight to stay healthy and ambulatory but give up and DIE! THE FASTER,THE BETTER!

Sorry, dying is not on my agenda any time soon! I'm a liver not a dyer! So, getting back to romance on the screen, I think us mature women need to see more mature actresses like Raquel Welch in a HOT passionate tryst with let say Robert Pattinson! After all we should be fighting for COUGAR POWER! It's a feminist thing to do! And we need more mature cougars too. 50-90! How about a movie, "The Second Husband's Club" with the roles reversed?

Finally, You guys out there, think about this. Who has more experience, a virgin or a mature woman in the bedroom? The mature woman of course. Experience= OO LALA EXCITEMENT!

Know the Past, But Don't Live There!

2011-10-24T14:12:00.000-07:00

Hi Readers,
I don't know if you heard this but General George S. Patton, the general who led his army through France and Europe in WWII, loved to play with toy soldiers on a battlefield. These were battlefields which were replicas of ancient wars and ancient warriors. The warriors were Alexander The Great, Hannibel, and Ulysses. He would look at the battlefields while crossing Europe and narrate the battles of those in the past as though they happened yesterday. You may ask why did he do this? It was military strategy. He studied successful battles of the past so he could plan the moves of the battles to have a success outcome that day. He used the successes of history to make the successes of his time!

If you read history you are reading an instruction book. It's true history DOES repeat itself! I am going to use a recent example. The century we left just 11 years ago, the 20th Century, could be called a Modern Renascence. The first Renascence was in the late 1700's and early 1800's. This was when science was finally progressing, and new inventions like the printing press were being used. Free thinkers like DaVince were mixing their artistic prowess with inventions on paper. It was a new era of thought and changing paradigms! Sound familiar? The 20th Century was like that! Think of it, in 1900 the most exciting technical breakthrough was AC(Alternating Current)! This was the invention of Nikola Tesla(1856-1943). More about him later. In 1999 We had gone to the Moon, have wireless phones and the Internet! Think of what happened between those years. Horses> Rocket Ships, Telegraph> Smart Phones, and Guitars> Electronic Keyboards! ASTOUNDING RIGHT?

The problem in our schools and in the general population is that history is getting a short shrift. People are just concentrating on what we have at the moment. Children are not being taught enough history in schools, I know I was a Substitute Teacher. Classes are not being structured to make the best atmosphere for learning to happen! Chaos rules in many classrooms. We need to bring back Old School Classrooms and Serious Teachers! The World is a competitive place, especially in hard times. Students don't need fluff; they need to be serious scholars eager to learn and to show the World their best!

History should be a stand alone class according to the grade level and be taught K-12. Who knows maybe we will have our own Nikola Tesla. Tesla was born in Croatia from a poor background. He was an engineer in Croatia and wanted to go to America. He wanted to work for Edison so his boss wrote a reference letter to Edison. It said," There are two great engineers in the World, you and the young man I'm sending to you." Tesla became Edison's assistant.

Now I'm going to switch gears, while knowing history and how to work it to your best advantage is great! You must learn to accept the best of the modern World you live in. You must be tech savey in these times. The computer is your friend don't be afraid to use it for all it's informative uses. Some people have never used a computer, it's very sad!

Some societies and religions are still afraid of contraceptives. That is why women are frustrated because they aren't able to space their pregnancies.It is a health issue not a religious issue. Some women are not using their freedoms that equality has gained for them. Like making marriage an equal partnership. Men can learn to change diapers and feed their children, don't leave the grunt work to women!

Men have to embrace feminism too, it's in their best interest also! It takes the pressure off of them. They can share expenses on dates and not have to pay all the time. They can be a two income family and women can start the action in the bedroom! What's not to like? Yet American men are still making trips to other countries or using mail order bride services to get submissive women to marry because they aren't man enough for an equal woman.

Women, you have to live your life to please you! You have the right to pick your men from any race, religion, and age! Go younger, maybe much younger. I have dated men 20 years my junior so go for it! Live modern but be a Historian!

The Movie Swept Away(An Illustration of The 1%). What Not to Aspire To!

2011-10-17T13:55:00.000-07:00

Hi Readers,
I had just came home from hanging out with the people of Occupy Minnesota. I already ate a small supper at Starbucks and headed home. I sat down and relaxed and decided to watch an On Demand movie from Comcast. Only "free" ones that came with my bundle though. I chose "Swept Away", I heard it was a stinker but I am not completely influenced by most critics, I think for myself. The only critic I go to for a second opinion is Roger Ebert, I am a member of his web page.

Swept Away came out in 2002. It starred Madonna as Amber( a spoiled wealthy wife), Adriano Giannini( a leftist ship servant), and Bruce Greenwood( Madonna's wealthy husband). It was written and directed by Madonna's then husband, Guy Ritchie. In this movie Madonna plays an uber demanding woman who acts like she is the only one that counts in her own little twisted world. She is especially hard on Giuseppe, the ship's servant, calling him pee pee and constantly sending the fish in her dinner back to the chef. Everyone including her husband gets punished by her vitriolic ire. But Giuseppe gets the heaviest dose!

Madonna and the ship's servant get "Swept Away" when she decides to take a dinghy across a body of water to a picturesque Greek island. She and Giuseppe get half way there and she starts looking around the boat. She and Giuseppe have been trading insults and "F" bombs along the way! She opens a compartment on the bottom of the boat and finds a flare gun. She aims it at Giuseppe and they see a boat from afar. They struggle for the gun and shoot the gun which lands a hole in the bottom of the boat and they sink.

I won't tell you the end of the movie but while on the island they fight physically and end up falling in love. This is an illustration of what the 1% of the holders of this nation's wealth is like up close and personal! Granted, there are billionaire's like Warren Buffet and Andrew Carnegie that have helped this society with money and in Carnegie's case placing libraries throughout the USA. I grew up in a city with a Carnegie Library. But most super wealthy people are self centered, egotistical, and think they know it all! The movie featured the four vacationers on the ship with their inane conversations mostly gossip and put downs on the people they considered "less than". The women who acted so snobby laid on the boat sunning themselves semi nude while the workers watched! They seemed to imply that the workers are subhuman. They had a stationery bike on board and Madonna was pedaling away with a brown cigarette in her mouth, it was a stupid juxtaposition! The vacationers smoked a lot, I guess the Surgeon General's report never got to their ignorant ears!

One phrase keeps circulating when people are shown tours of wealthy homes and haunts. Get to see how the better half lives! I don't think that just because some one is wealthy they are better then me! Some people get wealth through inheritance,through ill gotten gain(think robbery, alcohol and tobacco businesses, and the recreational drug business) and some through selling risky mortgages. Not all wealthy people are intelligent either! They are just good lucky. I am better then the ones that smoke, drink and do drugs, I have 31 years of sobriety and I don't do the other two! Some have never been to college and I have a BA in Communication from St. Thomas.

I was so glad that more people were at Occupy Minnesota this Sunday then last. They are brave soldiers for the people of USA and they want this country to really be for ALL the people not just the 1%!

Native Americans- Staying on The Reservation May Impede Progress

2011-10-14T21:49:00.000-07:00

Hi Readers,
I just watched the program 20/20 on Channel 5. It was a study conducted by Diane Sawyer about the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. She focused on some of the children living on the reservation. The tribe is Ogalala Sioux. The report spoke the desires of the children to go to college; one boy wants to be the first Native American President; another young woman wanted to be a singer and tried out for American Idol. The theme running through the program was that most of the residents of the reservation were practicing alcoholics.

This was no surprise to me because I am part Ojibwa Indian and I lived the first 4 years of my life on the LCO Reservation in a small village called New Post. The reservation is 20 miles south of Hayward WI. When my White father came back from WWII he bought a house in Hayward and moved my mother and me to our new home. My mother had more experience with the out side world then the Indians on the show because her adoptive family ran two resorts on the Chippewa Flowage. My grandmother and her brother owned them. Wealthy people from Chicago and The Twin Cities were their guests. Even some of Paul Whiteman's musicians stayed there.

The location of the Pine Ridge Reservation seems problematic too. It seems that no sizable towns or cities near there. The LCO is close to Hayward and Spooner WI which have populations of over 2000. I didn't see any churches featured in the program either. Pine Ridge looked desolate I would not want to live there.

I am mentioning all this because I think the reservation is the reason for the excessive chemical dependency problem! All reservations have that problem!Why is that so? Because giving beer and other intoxication devices to Indians Caucasians gained control of them. The inebriated Indians were happy to get cheap trinkets and booze for their land. As it is in minority sections of large cities, reservations are flooded with liquor stores with garish signage to lure the chemically dependant to buy the poison within!

Cities have temptations for the chemically dependent but they have a cure too, especially if they are like where I live Minneapolis MN! You could call the Twin Cities Treatment Cities! World famous Hazeldin Treatment Center is here where celebs go to get clean. But there are places that help the lower income too, like 1800 Chicago Ave.(Detox), Anoka State Hospital, and outpatient clinics too.

How can Pine Ridge get sober if there are no treatment centers for chronic alcoholics and no professional chemical dependency counselors? I wrote in a previous blog that chemical dependency professionals should donate their time and set up clinics in all reservations and train recent college grads to facilitate continuing help for the Indians.

Sobriety can open new vistas for you.Last September 6 2011 I celebrated 31 years of sobriety!! Before I quit drinking I was a high school drop out. Since I began my sobriety in 1980 I got my GED, I obtained my AS degree in Business Administration from Minneapolis Community College and I got a BA in Communication from The University of St. Thomas! I guess I hit the ground running.

I have two more points to make. If you are stuck on the res all your life you are literally cut off from the World! You will never experience getting dressed up to go to an opera, play, or concert. This Indian has done all three many times! Since I live in Minneapolis I have gone to many Twins games at the Dome and in their new ball park Target Field. I used to work at The Mall of America! City life is exciting, enriching, and educational! Come to my beautiful city!

The final point is that this whole country belonged to us. Why should we be satisfied to be stuck in a little covey hole? The conquerors put us on the reservations to be out of sight/out of mind! We can't let that happen! We got to mainstream and be in their face with our music, actors(think Adam Beach),and our writing ergo The Non-Trad Manifesto! Also come to the Twin Cities and study journalism so we will have representation on CNN,CBS-NEWS,and other media! NATIVE AMERICANS THE WORLD IS YOUR OYSTER!

Occupying Minnesota- For the Betterment of The USA!

2011-10-10T13:59:00.000-07:00

Hi Readers,
Yesterday I did something I wanted to do all my life, I participated in a political event and marched with others chanting political slogans to make the general populace wake up! I went to the staging area and hung out with the crowd at Occupy Minnesota! I brought a sign I made at home encouraging people to read this blog. I write about the same ideas that the Occupy groups are espousing. Occupying Minnesota is an out growth of the Occupying Wall Street political action group which is spreading to other states like Illinois and Washington State. This reminds me of when we were climbing out of the stifling 50's into the 60's. This was when the young people were sent off to college and their eyes were being opened to the REAL WORLD! They finally saw the poverty in the cities that their colleges were located in and the fact college is supposed to be the marketplace of ideas, it opened their eyes to the civil rights movement in the South.

It is no accident that most political movements are started by college students. It happened in Egypt recently and The Civil Rights Movement was populated by Northern Caucasians who went down South to help in Voter Registration marches and they participated in civil disobedience to work for Black people's rights! White blood was spilled along with Blacks in pursuit of Black Civil Rights! Remember Mississippi Burning?

Occupy has a student population but it also has unions backing it and the unemployed. Yesterday, I talked to a young women demonstrator whose sister was one of the organizers of The Occupy Wall Street demonstrations in New York. I felt good talking to the Occupiers they were a breath of fresh air in a World of greed and meism! They are working for the poor, the disenfranchised, and YES, the middle class! Wall Street's only function is to make money for corporate America, lobbyists, and it's brokers/CEO's! And they'll do it anyway they can!

If we can tax people making over a million smackers we can provide jobs in repairing our infrastructure, employing good teachers and more teachers thus reducing class sizes, and building a better health system we can improve this country exponentially! This would mean that more people can shop in stores and buy more products and groceries. They can support the entertainment industry buy paying for more tickets to events. If people have more money they can pay more towards their children's education! IT'S A WIN WIN!

If you let the wealthy off paying no taxes, they won't create jobs! They will put their plunder in Swiss Bank accounts and other off shore hiding places and buy another mansion, Rolls Royce, or take a million dollar shopping spree at Tiffany's! Maybe all three! How many screw-ups and near Depression financial disasters must the GOTEAP and Wall Street make before the general population especially, middle class, masochists, that still vote Teapublican, realize that the Teapublicans aren't their friend? I hope they awaken from their slumber before it's TOO LATE!!

Don't believe what the Right tell you that the Occupiers are radical! I checked the word, radical, in my friend,a Webster's Dictionary and the first definition is, fundamental! Now let's see, what political party has most of the fundamentalists, think Evangelicals? If you said Republican/Tea Party, you won, thereby, the Republican/Tea Party members are the radicals! They show it all the time by bringing guns to their rallies and talking about killing their opponents and using racist literature in their campaigns!

Finally, when we walked to the Metro Dome from the Government Center chanting messages to put our point across, it made me feel energized, it made me feel like I was part of a group fighting, peacefully, to better our country. Much like I felt when I was part of Team Obama! Some Vikings fans marched with us in solidarity for awhile but a minuscule amount of hecklers launched "F" bombs at us. It goes with the territory I guess.

Weekend Special:Eat Your Vegetables BUT Don't Become One

2011-10-01T17:55:00.000-07:00

Hi Readers,
I live in a Senior High rise, ( It's because I am low income) many people here seldom leave these buildings because many of them have thrown in the towel! They have embraced society's attitude about aging. They accept the (O) word, In one of my earlier blogs I cremated that derogatory word and replaced it with the word Maturing which is what all humans do. I believe in a linear society where people of all ages and races live together peacefully and accept people of all ages for employment and romance.

These people use power chairs and walkers even though they are ambulatory! Many women that use power chairs are sitting all the time thus becoming morbidly obese! I've seen them walk all they have to do is work out to get the kinks out. I work out at the YWCA and have lost 30 pounds! Sometimes I see certain people sitting in a chair in the lobby as I am leaving to conduct business. I can be gone several hours and when I return the same people are in the same chairs as when I left! THIS IS NOT LIVING! Human beings have to stay active and interested in life to survive! Not doing so means you are VEGING!

I have wrote several blogs about one of my main causes in life, to end Ageism. One of my ideas is to eliminate mandatory retirement. Retirement is just another word for getting ready to die! I am unemployed but I will never retire! One of the reasons I write this blog is that I hope someone in the media who is in Human Services spots it and likes what he/she reads and offers me a position! This is a live resume`. I want to work in Op/Ed or have my own talk show.

Veging is harmful to your health, if you are not active you lose your self esteem. Most vegers have a forlorn look in their eyes; they seem to have lost interest in life. They see themselves as victims who are powerless. This is sad when with a little help they could become active happy people!

Maybe the fact that I got my BA in Communications in 1998 when I was 54, made it easier to remain younger in thought and spirit! I got used to hanging with a younger crowd at St. Thomas. I actually am getting better as I go along. The fact that I work out and lead an active life style has made me more agile then when I was in my teens or twenties! I'm a great aficionado of power walking. I go around sidewalk dawdlers because their slowness makes me feel restricted.

When I had a gall bladder operation I had to stay home to recuperate and when I started feeling more normal I just had to hop on the 22 and go downtown and have lunch and walk around!

Right now I am working on my abdominals so I have a smaller stomach. There is a machine at the "Y" that helps the cause. I generally bike about 4 miles and walk about a mile on the treadmill then I do three sets of 25 on the lat to strengthen my arms and prevent floppy arms.

The best advice I can give to prevent you from becoming a veg is to always look the best and the most youthful you can. Color your hair whether you are a man or woman. Grey hair is OUTDATED! I recommend Garnier and Loreal hair color. It's what I use. Use Garnier anti-aging cream and if you can afford it plastic surgery, got to get rid of the wrinkles as much as possible. You also have to wrinkle proof your neck too. Don't dress dowdy, wear the latest styles or go in your closet to recombine your out fits to look more modern.

Another idea, if you never graduated from high school, work on getting your GED! If you are more mature many community colleges let you attend classes at a reduced rate or free. If it's a free class you usually can't use the credits towards a degree program. Whether your 66 or 96 GET TECH SAVVY! Learn computer basics like e-mailing, social networking like Facebook and Twitter, and the lingo like wallpaper, hard drive, googeling, and IM. Most of the time you are using your mouse.

Vegers have no fun! If you follow my advice you may wake up ready to challenge the World and maybe find romance in the process!

Capital Punishment- A Slap in the Face of Humanity

2011-09-23T13:39:00.000-07:00

Hello Readers,
Sometimes people enter the law enforcement field for the right reasons, to protect the community, to be a force for the good of humanity, and to be a role model to youth growing up in tough situations. But some do it to power trip, to have access to weaponry, and to be able to kill with the protection of the shield to protect them!

This country has always had a love affair with the gun and the violence that goes with it. It could be said that it is sociopathic because how could pioneers and early European residents kill Native American women and children who were not combative? This hunger for violent pursuits still exists in this country! Only now it is practiced by law officials in such pursuits like enhanced interrogation and the ultimate sociopathic thrill Capital Punishment.

Only God or Allah has a right to take a life! Who are we to play God? Many CIVILIZED NATIONS have eliminated Capital Punishment from their laws! Not us! The Supreme Court put a stay on it for awhile but reestablished it so we are in this horrid situation until we have a humanitarian government.

Capital Punishment doesn't deter crime! Statistics show that states that have Capital Punishment have just as many capital crimes as non capital states, some have MORE! Why would anyone think it would work? It is protected murder! MURDER IS MURDER, whether it's the executioner or the criminal! If the state murders it can't pretend to be a role model for abiding the law!

Does the USA want to eliminate most crimes? In past blogs, I wrote about an idea that would eliminate many crimes. It is that there should be a law that every five years all citizens and residents should be required to have a full psychological exam including oral interviews by psychiatrists, written tests like the Minnesota Multiphasial and cranial cat scans. This would find out the mental health of each participant and see who needs psychological treatment. Treatment would be required. This would cure those that need it. It would also provide many health care jobs so it would be a win-win for this country!

We have to create a country where people have a team spirit and see their community and the World teammates. No more wars, no more state sponsored killing, no more hate! It could happen if there were more people like me, who love the idea of a peaceful World! We need law enforcement and the military but just to keep mentally ill people from our community or shores.

Finally, I want to make you aware of an organization that is helping inmates on Death Row prove their innocence thus preventing the death of innocent people. It is called The Innocence Project. It was started in 1992 by Barry Scheck and Peter J Nuefeld. They check the inmates DNA and see if it matches the DNA from the perps at the crime scene. If it don't the inmate can file for a new trial and many times will be set free. They may have their crime records expunged so they have an easier time to get jobs and be a productive citizen!

You can Google The Innocence Project and get more information and if you are on Facebook, I sent some info on my page about it. Let's end Capital Punishment!!!

The Tea Party Ghouls and Their Heroes Rick Perry and Ron Paul

2011-09-16T13:41:00.000-07:00

Hi Readers,
I hope you all saw the You Tube video of the people at the Tea Party Presidential Debate of the Republican candidates that was hosted by Wolf Blitzer for CNN. He asked Ron Paul a question about what to do if a person has no money or health insurance and need medical service. Paul implied that that they should die! This triggered hearty applause and shouts and hoots! This coming from an OB/GYN doctor! Ron Paul has never accepted Medicare or Medicaid in his practice so it shows that he isn't practicing the Hippocratic Oath that all doctors must swear to get their licences. He wasn't the only candidate that got thunderous applause that night.

Rick Perry was asked a question about the fact that he had sent more people to be executed(200) then any other Texas governor. Before Blitzer completed the question the audience again applauded like Perry had done an honorable thing. Killing is NOT an honorable thing!

Killing is a DEFEAT for humanity! All people are precious with all their faults, addictions, and psycho/ social problems! People can be cured from addictions and violent behavior. The only entity that has the right to end life is God!

This is the trouble with the Republican Tea Party. They are reminiscent of the gun toting, prejudiced, lawless denizens of The Old West! Many of the GOTEAP seem to be stuck in those days philosophically and psychologically. They are REGRESSIVES. They want anarchy where there is little law and everyone is out for themselves. They should all move to Somalia and try to survive!

Most Democrats are PROGRESSIVE and Liberal. We want things to get better in this country. We want our children to get the best education possible, Have stable homes and to help more people get living wage jobs. We want our citizens to be tech savy and to expand the Internet! A Democrat(Al Gore) was the first politician to promote the Internet.

Not all people who vote Republican are wealthy. Some a very poor brainwashed people. They are Evangelicals or Born Again Christians. Their pulpits are filled with Tea Party like pastors who portray an angry God that is out to get them if they don't interpret the Bible literally. They are mostly people without any post secondary education or if they did graduate from high school maybe attended a Vo-Tech college like Everest or DeVry. They keep voting for Republicans and their position never gets better if the GOTEAP wins. They are masochists to the Republican sadists!

I was a high school dropout but the fact that I became sober September 6 1980 and this month I celebrated my 31st year of sobriety! During that time I got married, gave birth to twin daughters, and furthered my education.

First I got my GED and a certificate in Bookkeeping. Then in 1987 I got an AS in Business Administration from Minneapolis Community College. And in 1998 I received my BA in Communication from The University of St. Thomas.

Why am I telling you this? Because education should make you a better voter and not follow the false promises of the Republicans! It's a given that we, human beings should want to help others and not be "me" oriented. We are all on this planet together; we have to work together to take care that this planet is well cared for and not spoiled with pollution! We have to see that all are fed, clothed and have adequate housing. I will end with a prayer I say with my formal prayers.

God, grant that everyone in the World gets their basic needs met and that they gain full self-actualization. Grant that everyone in the World gets full equality and dates bi-racially.

The Republicans don't want this!

How I Write The Non-Trad Manifesto

2011-09-12T13:41:00.000-07:00

Hi Readers,
Before we get started let me tell you a little bit about the writing process. As I have told you before in other blogs, I have always loved to read and the acquiring of words to express myself has always delighted me! When I was in six grade I used to sit down and read dictionaries for fun. I also love to write. This has always been thus. Every letter I wrote was multi paged. When I began my post secondary education later in life at Minneapolis Community College, I was pleased that I would be writing. The only problem was I had a small electric typewriter which jammed occasionally . I made do with it. When I entered The University of St. Thomas I bought a Brother Word Processor that was close to a computer. That was much easier to use and it could print multiple copies. I could then put out a better product and get better grades.

I did a great deal of writing in the pursuit of my two degrees. Some of them were very good and some were great. It depended upon my interest in the topic I was writing about. Every collegian has to have in their academic book collection, The Publication Manuel of the American Psychological Association. I have the Fourth Edition. This is because most colleges and universities demand that when you are citing sources for your academic papers you use the APA rules on your sources page.

I devised an easier way to get my papers written. I typed it out using all my resources and citing them by using quotation marks from the book or article I used. I never plagiarized but I read paragraph by paragraph and write away stated what I read in my own words. I have always been a sponge to soak up ideas with the exception of math and scientific equations.

With this background and the fact that I wanted this blog to also help someone in the media find me and offer me a media position, Last New Years Eve The Non-Trad Manifesto was born! The infancy had it's rough moments because I was learning how do the "blog" thing on Blogspot. I had blogged before on MySpace but when they 'improved' it they made it more difficult and some of my blogs weren't even fully published.

I saw the movie Julie and Julia and I noticed that when they showed a scene of Julie's text appearing on her computer that Blogspot was the publisher. It got her a book and fame so I chose to blog on Blogspot.

When I wasn't getting any response on a plain template I decided to jazz it up and redecorate! The template I use now speaks to me, I love blue and it just seems to jive with my blog title and the fact I usually choose serious topics.

How do I choose topics? As you know, I am on a crusade to end Ageism and Racism! I also want the World to quit smoking, drinking alcoholic beverages and using recreational drugs. These are the topics I constantly revisit. I am also against violence, when a violent act occurs and gets media buzz I write about it with my take on it , like when Gabriella Gifford got shot I wrote a blog about it. I am interested in all of the World happenings so I write what ever moves me that day.

I Do write about less serious topics occasionally but with all my blogs I offer viable solutions to the problems I pose! Most writers just focus on a problem and throw up their hands with no clue on how to solve it. The Non-Trad Manifesto is a one stop shop: Problem>Read Blog>= Solution! Any other way is a waste of your time and intelligence!

Now that the political season is heating up, my blogs are going to offer plenty of T-Bone to satiate your longing for good political discussion! So Pass The 57 Sauce!

A 911 Rememberence

2011-09-09T19:23:00.000-07:00

Hi Readers,
It was a beautiful morning September 11th 2001, the sky was as blue as it could be and the temperature was moderate. I didn't need a sweater. I showered, ate breakfast and got my purse and lunch together. I got out the door and caught my bus number 5 to go to downtown Minneapolis. I planned to meet a friend at the IDS Center(at 57 stories, the tallest building between Chicago and Denver). I had recommended him to my boss for a job as a recruiter/ interviewer at Heakin/Quick Test a Market Reasearch company located at The Mall of America. We went to Kinko's which was located at The IDS Center to photocopy his resume to give to Elaine Johnson, the manager of that location at MOA.

As we were doing our tasks we looked out the huge windows and saw several Minneapolis Police cars surrounding the IDS. We weren't too concerned because Minneapolis is the largest city in the area and many conventions and other festivities are held in the city all requiring police presence. We scurried outside to catch the 180 express bus to the MOA(at the time). As soon as we settled in the bus, around 9AM, the bus driver announced that "A plane hit The World Trade Center in New York so the Mall of America has been closed!" I thought to myself " Why are they closing the mall?" I pictured a small private plane had hit the tower. Also I thought, " We live in Minneapolis Minnesota not New York."

We got off the bus and I ran to a pay phone to call my work. It rang and rang and the voice mail didn't even kick on. We decided to go to my home to put CNN on and find out what was going on. My daughter Manuela was home and we put the TV on in the living room.The picture of the first tower that had already been hit came on the screen. It seemed unreal to me, like something out of a Spielburg movie! The thick smoke and the voice of Aaron Brown describing the details of the occasion. Then Aaron Brown came on the screen with the towers as a backdrop. I thought no small plane could have caused this much effuse! The full horror started leaking into my mind, it was going full throttle when the second plane crashed into the second tower live on TV! I cried," What is going on? Why is this happening? Oh my God!" I told my daughter and my friend, "We have to Pray!" So I led them in prayer. I was glued to the TV. My daughter is less emotional then me so she was getting something to eat and my friend ate too. When the Pentagon was attacked it hit the on button and I cried unrelentingly! I finally ate and experienced the most gut wrenching day of my life!

That day back in 2001 should of taught us that hate don't work! Extremeism don't work! Religious zeal don't work! BUT IT DIDN'T!

Many people are in denial, they are afraid of introspection. There is little difference between the Taliban, AlQuida, and Christian Evangelicals! All are not open to new ideas, are prejudiced, and blame "them" for all their problems! They see people of a different race or religion as "devils" and they are the great STREOTYPERS! How many Christian fundamentalists have been to a mosque? Broken fast on Ramadan? or participated in an Ede celebration? On the other hand, How many members of the Taliban or AlQuida have been to a Catholic Christmas Mass? It is Magnificent! It is so destructive to this country and the World, religious fear! I am confident enough in my religious beliefs that I(a Catholic Lay Minister) have visited several mosques, broke fast several times at Ramadan, and celebrated Ede with my converted twin daughters. We do disagree at times because I want my grandsons to see me lector at my church. Hopefully some day.

George Bush used 911 as a ploy to start the two wars that we are in now. Once and for all, WAR DOESN'T WORK! WAR SOLVES NOTHING! WAR JUST KILLS AND FEEDS HATE! A spiritual states,"We ain't going to study war no more!"When is this idiotic World going to heed it's message?

Some people say there will always be war. They are short sighted and lack imagination! We must do our greatest thinking NOW! WE CAN CHANGE! WE HAVE BRAINS, NOW ALL WE NEED IS TO USE THEM IN A POSITIVE WAY!!

We have to quit hate cold turkey! Tolerance has to rule the day!Until you know a person you can't judge them! We need EVERYBODY! 911 PROVED HATE DON'T WORK! Let's give at least LIKE a chance! Like can turn to Love. This World is a mere dot in the vast Universe! Let's preserve our little dot and it's residents with love and care and let it swell with a giant heart!