I Really Don't Care...

As I find myself getting older I am finding I really don't care about a lot of things that I used to.  Like...I really don't care about people's political views.  I find it hard to believe the amount of money being spent on elected offices.  From presidential to senatorial to congressional.  Even governorships.  And its not just one side or the other.  They take any subject and twist it around and make themselves look righteous.  Do a little research, figure out what is best for you, get out and vote.  And remember, you gotta' live with it.

I really don't care what your religion is.  Recently I was reading Time magazine, and something that really caught my attention was that 85% of Americans believed in heaven.  85% of Americans can't agree on anything!  But I don't think Catholics are better than Methodists, Jews better than Muslums.  Everybody has their own beliefs.  If you choose to worship, fantastic.  You don't want to, no problem from me.  I have no idea how many different religions there are worldwide, but I'm glad to let people have there own beliefs.  I do wish they would do it a little more peacfully though...

I really don't care about your sexual orientation.  Really don't care.  Why is it anyone's business what you do with another person?  If your happy, knock yourself out.  I'm pretty sure if I'm not comfortable I can avoid people.  I am sure they do the same with me.  No problem with that either way.  I also don't think you need to tell people I'm gay or I'm straight or whatever.  Just be what you are.  I respect your right to happiness.

I really don't care what color you are.  White, black, red, brown, yellow, purple, green---tired of it, don't care.  People are different.  Look different.  Talk different.  Dress different.  Eat different.  Different histories.  I understand people have been discriminated against.  I understand sterotypes.  I also know people of differnt color who I like, and people of my color who I don't.  Think its time to get over this stuff people.

I think what I've finally learned is people are people.  Everyone wants to be happy, safe, fed, free to do what they want.  Everybody hurts, has fears, is concerned.  Everybody needs somebody.   I'm perfectly happy to live and let live, let everyone be happy.

The Big C

I recently got an email that had some startling facts about breast cancer in it.  I will share some of those facts with you.

One in eight women (about 12 %) will develop breast cancer.  Look around and think about that one.  Neighbors, co-workers, fellow students.  Not a very happy thought in my mind.  There are roughly 230,500 new cases of breast cancer diagnosed every year.    On average, 112 women die of breast cancer every day.  That's one every 15 minutes. And about 40,000 a year.  It is the second biggest cancer killer among women, only behind lung cancer.  Eighty five per cent of women who get breast cancer have no family history of  the disease, but if you have two close relatives with it (mother, sister, daughter), your chances double. Smoking increases your risk. So does age.  Most women who die from breast cancer are over 40.  Exersise helps. White women have the highest risk.  Men can also get breast cancer, but nowhere near as readily.

Let's face it, all cancer is bad.  Breast cancer gets more attention from the media, recieves more resources for treatment and research, and has the attention of politicians more than other cancers, all probably because everyone probably knows someone, or knows someone who knows someone who is affeced.  Breast cancer can have a terrible psycologocial effect on women--and their families.  I must have heard all the jokes by now, and I don't think this is a funny issue.  Men have to be supportive of women that have this disease.  Women, I'm sure you have all heard (or will) all the talk about self exams, mammograms and what not.  Please be vigilent with these. Survival rate is very good with early detection.

I know that there are quite a few cancer fundraisers coming up, different race for the cures and what not.  I don't care if your irritated with Komen or not.  If you can find a way to help with cancer research please do it.  Hopefully all of us will be better off in the long run.

Do You Want To Know?

I read an interesting article today about a girl who is going to be tested to see if she has the gene for Huntington's (sp?)  Disease.  Apparently this is a nasty disease that is passed down from one generation to the next.  She says if she has the gene she will choose not to have children so that it will not be passed down to the next generation.  The article got me to wondering if I would want to know. 

The Human Genome Project in 2003 identified 20 to 25 thousand different genes, and researchers have been identifing ones that play roles in diseases ever since, everything from Altzheimers to some cancers.  Would you take a test to see if you were going to get some sickness?  I could see it if I knew something ran in my family.  It may have influenced my decision to have kids.  I can see how it could also influence how you would lead yor life.  If they can tell me I'm going to die, or I'm going to have some dibilitating disease, I might do some things a bit different, as far as lifestyle and planning.  If I'm going to get something that severly limits me later in life, I might cram as much as I can in while I still can (probably not a bad idea anyways!).  I suppose you could make some changes in your daily life to try and prevent a disease or to lesson its effects.  Of course, would you really want to go through life knowing that you are destined to get cancer or some other disease?

Then you need to think about privicy issues.  What if employers are allowed to give you tests to see if your likely to get something?  What if insurance companies are allowed to give tests to see when your going to need long term care, or when your going to die?  Preventing sickness and disease is much less expensive than treating it, so if they know beforehand, maybe they can stop it from happening?

Finally, what if they're wrong?  What if I take some genaric test that says I'll get cancer and be dead by the time I'm 60?  If they tell me that now, I'm done with work and I'm doing as much as I can to enjoy myself.  Heck, I might just as well die broke.  And they were wrong and I don't die from cancer---happy to be alive, irritated I'm broke though.....Or what if I never had kids for some disease I might pass on, but I didn't really have it?

 It's an interesting question, something everyone will answer for themselves for different reasons.  I am amazed at all the things that science is doing --among other things that amaze me.  I believe that I will be passing on all these tests, and let the chips fall where they may. I'm lucky I don't have any history of these disease in my family.  My answer may be different if I did.

Regrets?

Fist things first--the lady who was hit by the car is going to be okay.  I guess she is messed up pretty good, but she'll be okay.

A week or so ago a friend of mine posted an article titled the 5 Regrets of the Dying.  A caretaker kept track of things that people who were dying wished they had done or didn't do in their lives.  The five were 1) I wish I'd had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.  2) I wished I hadn't worked so hard--every man expressed this.  3)  I wish I'd had the courage to express my true feelings.  4)  I wish I'd stayed in touch with my friends. And 5)  I wish I'd let myself be happier.  Not I don't plan on going anytime soon, but I decided to take a look at these things, and kind of take an inventory of my life to see if I need to act on things while I still can. 

Looking at these 5 regrets, I think I've done a better than average job of staying in touch with friends.  Could I do better?  Yes, but that door swings both ways.  I get together with guys from college probably a couple of times a year, and the computer makes it easier to keep in touch.  Wished I hadn't worked so hard?  Nah--I think I've done a good job of not missing things the kids were involved in or family events because of work--or anything else I've wanted to do for that matter.  Wish I'd let myself be happier?  There were some times when things seemed a little bleak, but overall  is good.  Any happier and they'd probably be having me tested now--we're fairly healthy, kids are doing well, sometimes wonder if things could be better.

Now a couple of tough ones for me.  Live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.  Well, I know I never set out to carry the mail.  Heck, it's just temporary until I finish that teaching degree.  Well, that didn't happen.  Life happened.  Sometimes life gets in the way.  I used to think I would have been happier, but who knows.  Things seem to have a way of working out one way or the other.  Now just a short 7 years to retirement--guess I'll live the life true to myself then!

Finally, I wish I'd had the courage to express my true feelings.  I would have to say this is true, even to this day.  I was never any good at expressing things--probably has something to do with the way I was brought up.  Does it bother me?  Don't think so, but maybe I'm just not expressing it well.  Should probably tell people the way I feel--you know, tell the ones you love you love them before they are out of your life and all you can think about is how much you miss them.

So what are my regrets?  I should have taught.  I would have liked it a lot.  Of course, I should have done a better job in college; that probably would have made a difference.  Should have spent more time with my older relatives.  I could have helped people out more, been nicer to them.  I could definately taken better care of myself--that would have been a good idea.  Probably wasted too much money on material things, but that is really neither here nor there as far as I'm concerned.  Overall I think the regrets are few, and I'm working on some stuff while there is still time--I really am pretty lucky, no complaints.  I guess I would tell people to do whatever it takes to be happy and to remember to please themselves.

I Do Like My Music

One of my earliest memories of my Dad is of him sitting me down and telling me to listen.  He had a reel to reel tape recorder and he would hold the microphone up to the radio and record things.  He told me he recorded the hit songs of the day, and that he would save the tape for me.  Don't know what ever happened to the tape, but I do remember the songs.  They were by a little group called the Beatles.  That has to be where it all started for me. 

My parents had a pretty big record collection when I was a kid.  All kinds of albums, from Burl Ives to Frank Sinatra to Johnny Cash to the Kingston Trio.  And a huge stack of 45s, mostly stuff from the '50s.  I must have listened to them all.  Heck I still have most of them.....Sometime around '71 or '72 I hooked up with a neighbor, who had an older sister.  She had all kinds of records we would listen to, along with all his mom's old records, stuff like Gogi Grant......I also got a cassette player/recorder around this time, and spent plenty of time recording songs off the radio.  I remember every New Years Eve they would play the top songs of the year, and for thee or four years I would make sure to record them all.  Don't really recall playing them back all the way through, but they were there.

In l978 things really started to change for me.  We were still listening to music at home, but I went and saw my first real concert.  Went to see ELO at the Arena.  Couldn't really see to much, and I found out later that most of it was recorded, but I didn't care.  Oh, and that was the year I went to college.  Talk about opening your ears.  Introduced to so much more music.  Tommy with Rod Stewart and Jackson Brown and Bruce Springsteen.  Rebs with old stuff like Jan and Dean.  Phil had all kinds of rare stuff---still break out a little Doucette once in awhile.  Dan had more records than I did---popular to one hit wonders.  And Kenny had the great 60's party tapes.  What great music.  Motown to country, oldies (old even back then!) to disco---yeah disco.  And then the younger kids showed up the next couple of years and we got the start of punk and new wave and rap.  It was a great time for listening to music.

I kind of lost track of popular music in the middle eighties.  Busy with family and work and what not, and I just couldn't understand the damn stuff.  I would catch a new song on the radio once in a while but by this time it was mostly country music for me.  Not that I was alone, because it seems like the whole world was listening to people like Garth Brooks and George Strait and what not.  Then I found Napster.....

Music on the computer.....for free?   Just don't get caught.  And I downloaded!!  Hear a song I liked?  Boom I had it.  Just like when I was a kid and recording off the radio.  Couple of thousand songs---of course that got shut down, and away they went.  Oh well, ITunes works just as well, and I don't worry about the feds getting me. 

Back when I was in high school when you played music the people around you knew what it was.  You heard the radio or the stereo and you shared the music. I remember in college the first thing you did was hook up the stereo and crank it up.   As my kids got older I knew they were listening to stuff, but I didn't have a clue what.  Damn Ipods and ear buds!  Visit them in college and you don't hear a note.  I finally asked them, and some of the stuff isn't bad.  Still don't care for the rap stuff, but there seems to be some interesting stuff out there.

The reason this stuff is on my mind now is that when I was last in St. Louis my son's rommie Jose asked if anybody had any cassettes, because he had a boom box and was looking for some music.  Since I never get rid of anything, it was his lucky day.  And mine to, because when I got home I had to start fishing out the old cassettes.  And since I had to know what I was sending him, I had to start listening----and I've gotten to hear songs I haven't heard in 20 or 30 years.  Some of the tapes haven't aged very well, but others have.  Fun listening to some of the old stuff, sad other tapes can't be played anymore, and hoping Stew and Jose and everyone else within earshot will listen at least once and enjoy as much as I have....

I saw a woman get hit by a car today.  About quarter after 11 or so, on Water Street between Wisconsin and Michigan.  It's a fairly busy street, but this isn't New York or Chicago by any stretch.  I pretty much saw the whole thing---seemed like slow motion.  I was about a half a block away.  The driver of the car was not at fault.  This lady, probably late thirtys or so, tried to outrun the car.  She couldn't do it.  By the time I got to the accident scene, the police had been called, and a number of people were tending to the woman in the street.  The driver seemed to be somewhat upset, but there were people around him trying to calm him down.  I was drawn to a screaming woman on the sidewalk.  It was her friend who was hit. They were going across the street to get a cup of coffee--her friend said come on and took off, she stayed.  She says it happened so fast, yet I saw the whole thing develop and thought it took forever.  Soon the police and firefighters and rescue squad arrived.  It didn't look too good for the victim, but I can't say how she is.  I got a paramedics attention and let him try to calm down the friend, as I got on with my business.  All for a cup of coffee?

Seems that one of the first things we teach our kids is to look both ways before crossing the street.  The cross walk was 12 paces away to the corner for me (I counted).  Maybe 15 for her?  I don't know if this is a Milwaukee phenomenon or not.  I've spent the last two weekends in Minneapolis and St. Louis and don't recall people crossing against the lights or in midblock, but maybe I wasn't paying attention.  It used to seem to me it was just high schoolers and college kids who didn't seem to care or know better, but now it seems everyone around here just crosses as they please.   Sometimes I ask people why they are running in front of cars, or crossing against the lights.   Some of the answers include I'm in a hurry, everyone does it (everyone?), nobody cares, along with none of your business.  And it is none of my business, and I suppose I really don't care either.  But I asked a cop one time what would happen if I happened to hit someone crossing against the light or running through the traffic.  He told me to make sure I got a witness, and if I hit somebody in a situation like that it wouldn't be my fault.

I would imagine the woman I saw get hit today probably has some family, maybe somebody that is depending on her paycheck.  I hope she is alright.  And I hope people take just a little time to think about some of this stuff before they attempt it.  You are (probably) not as fast as you think you are.  You are not tougher than steel.  You also are probably not in that big of a hurry.  And although it may not be any of my business, I'm pretty sure it's the business of your family and friends, the guy that hit you, the police, the hospital, probably the lawyer you are going to get, your employer, and all the people you inconvienced while the road was shut down.  Let's try and be just a little bit saner out there.

Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman

These two will be linked together forever.  I've been trying to figure this out for a few days now. Here is what I come up with. 

What do we know for facts.  We know Martin is dead and we know Zimmerman shot him.  Only one person knows what exactly happened, and even if he wanted to I'm not sure Zimmerman could provide all the exact details.  Sometimes the mind remembers what it wants to.  We know Martin talked to his friend, she says he was scared.  We know Zimmerman talked to the police.  There are recordings of these conversations.  The police had contact with Zimmerman in previous incidents.  They told him to back off and wait for police.  He didn't.  From some of the transcripts it would appear that Zimmerman had some preconcieved notions about young black males.  We know that the police recovered the weapon and a shell casing. We know Zimmerman had a concealed carry permit. They also questioned him for five hours and decided they couldn't charge him.  We know others heard a fight or scuffle and called 911.  We also know Florida has a Stand Your Ground Law.

What I'm a little fuzzy on.  Why did Zimmerman follow Martin.  Was he doing something, or did he just think he was going to.  He's a self appointed block captain walking around carrying a gun?  Heck, I'm the block captain here--never thought of carrying a gun.  Did Martin attack Zimmerman?  Everything I read says Zimmerman followed Martin and then confronted him.  From the pictures I've seen this appears to be some sort of gated area.  Was Martin cornered?  I've said this before---if I think somebody is going to shoot me and I have no way out, I'm coming at you.  I know I have little chance, but I'll be damned if I going to stand still and get shot.  Why did it take so long to charge Zimmerman?  Is special prosecutor Corey going to make her bones on this case?  Was Zimmerman playing cop?

How about some what ifs. What if Zimmerman would have waited for the police?   What if Zimmerman was black and Martin was white?  Would the police arrested him immediately?  What would the outrage be.  What if Martin was there to break in or injure someone?  What would have happened to Martin if he took Zimmerman's gun away from him and shot him?  What is going to happen if Zimmerman is aquitted, or convicted? Have we maybe gone too far with these "castle laws"? 

Now some thoughts.  I've been in peoples yards where I didn't belong.  Never broke into a house, but there was the George Woelhfol incident.  I've pissed plenty of people off.  Suppose in todays enviornment I'd be shot dead by now.  And I'm not the only one.  If you have children of a certain age I suggest you worn them.  Stay away from peoples houses.  Gosh don't TP their house or soap their windows.  If your kids are older you'd better tell them to worn their kids.  I think it's probably better to run to the police than to run from them now.  I'm wondering what the reaction is going to be when the kid of some big gun advocate is killed and nothing is done becaus of a castle law.  Seems like we're going back to the days of the wild wild west.  Kinda scary....

Voting...or lack there of.

I read in the morning paper today about a women here in Wisconsin who won a seat on her town's city council with a total of two write in votes, hers and her husbands.  She will represent about 1500 people in her position, and be paid $300 per month.  There were also a number of other cases with people winning local elections with just a few write in votes.  This got me to thinking about people's responsibilities in this country.  What if all Americans were required to vote in all elections?

There are already many responsibilities that we are "made" to do.  We have to pay taxes, we have to educate our children, we have jury duty, the male population has to register for the draft.  Think of the changes to national campaigns.  You would no longer have to spend time or money on getting the vote out.  You would no longer be able to target their message to the most ardent members of the electorate.  You would need to craft your message in such a way to include a broader audience. It would make it more difficult for extremest to vote themselves or their candidates into power.   Can you say this would be a bad thing?

How are you going to make me vote you say?  Well, how about some kind of tax credit.  We have credits for all kinds of things as it is.  Also, people hate to wait to vote, so we need to make it easier to vote.  How about on Saturday or Sunday, so those that work have an easier opportunity?   And why is voting only held on one day?  You could vote for an entire week nowadays and not have too many problems.  What about the mail, or the internet?  You can take the polls to the people--schools, business parks, hospitals, etc.

Can't be done?  Well, there are 23 countries around the world with compulsory voting, including Peru, Brazil and Australia.  Some of these countries do not enforce this law.  Of course, you always have the argument about  whether it is a duty to vote or a right to vote.  If you have a right to vote (or free speech, or freedom of association, etc.), you don't have to use this right.  If you think about it as a duty, perhaps people will become more informed about the candidates and the issues involved.

Well whaddya' think?  I think something needs to be done so that we can say 30% is NOT a busy day at the polls....

The Kids Are Alright

The last couple of weeks we have taken a couple of trips to see the kids.  Last week Cathie and I drove down to St. Louis to see Stewart run in the Washington University Invite, and of course to spend a little time with him.  The meet was long and I thought rather unorganized, but Stew and his team had a pretty good day --especially the girls....Go Billikens!!!  I had a chance to talk a little with some of Stews friends, and they really seem like a nice group of people.  All very polite and with nice things to say about Stew.  And they all seemed truly sincere about it too.  We were able to have a late dinner and an early breakfast with Stewart, and I came away with a couple of things.  Although he has always had a pretty good idea of what needs to get done and how to get there, I don't ever recall him being more focused than he seems now.  He definitely seems to have a plan on where he wants to go with his schooling and what needs to be done to achieve his goals. He was nice to people, funny, polite, courteous, pretty much all you could ask for.  Even answered questions with more than a one word answer.  It was good to see him.

This weekend we headed up to Minneapolis to visit with Aleah.  They have a couple of days off for Easter, so the dorm was pretty much empty.  I was hoping to meet some of her new friends, but maybe another time.  Aleah always seems to have something going on.  She has pledged to a fraternity (yes a fraternity--its a co-ed business thing) which is taking up some of her time, but she seems real excited about it.   She has met a lot of people and really seems happy to be here. She has already experienced some neat things--tours of companies, meeting people, things like that.  She also has adapted to college life real well.

I come away from my visits with a few things.  There seems to be a heck of a lot more studying in college than when I was there.  The kids I talked to seem to have a better grasp of what is going on in the world than I did--probably because of the internet.  Information is just a touch away!!  And the seem to be involved with more stuff than I remember.  I know there were more things available way back, but I think there is more happening now.  I also seem to think that it really wouldn't surprise me that when my kids are done with college they won't be coming back home. Stew really seems to like St. Louis, and I don't think Wisconsin is a place you really want to start a teaching career.  And there seem to be so many opportunities in the business world that I can see Aleah staying right here.  And the farther along they go in college, the more I'm okay with that.  I can see them maturing each time we get together.  As much as they'll always be my little boy and little girl, I think they are going to do fine.  The kids are alright......

The Great American Pastime

The baseball season has arrived.  I like baseball.  A lot.  I like the athleticism involved.  It's difficult, maybe the hardest thing in sports, to hit a round ball with a round bat---and when you hit it good, you square it up.  I like the strategy involved.  Bunt?  Hit and run?  Steal?  Intentional walk?  I like the statistics, the traditions, and the personalities.  Unfortunately (for me), I don't care for the way the game has changed.  I don't care for the player movement, and the high player salaries.  And the high ticket and concession prices that follow.  Don't talk to me about parking prices either.  I prefer to remember the baseball of my youth, roughly 1967 or so to 1982.  I guess that would be the big start of free agency, and steroids.

One of my earliest memories is of watching the '68 World Series.  Detroit vs. St. Louis.  Have always liked the Cardinals, so of course it causes some problems now.  Detroit won the series in 7.  Mickey Lolich won 3 games, but Gibson was great.  I read a lot of baseball books.  Willie Mays was my favorite player.  The Sporting News was an amazing paper.  I knew all the important numbers.  714.  511.  56. 402. And I knew all about the great players and teams.  Ruth, Gerhig, Wagoner, Cobb, Johnson, Foxx.  The Yanks, the Philadelphia Athletics, the Cards.  I found it all very interesting.

I saw many games at Milwaukee County Stadium, and have many memories.  Robin Yount's 3000 hit.  Nolan Ryan won his 300th game there.  I was there on Bat Day when the original Bernie Brewer came down off the scoreboard when attendance was over 40,000.  I remember the Brewers first game in 1970--10-0 lose to the Angels.  Messerschmidt beat Krause.  I remember Stew's first game--with Grampa.  And I remember the last season--kinda sad.  Went to a few games just for the memories.  Worst seats in the majors.  Games with my grandparents.  The Last Game, with Aleah.

I have also attended games at other fields.  A day game in San Francisco--Bonds took the day off, Stewart was too big, but he went in the giant glove anyways, Ken Griffy Jr. played.  I was at old Comisky following the Brewers on there 13-0 streak.  Was prepared to follow them to Detroit, but they lost.  Been to Wrigley a few times--once or twice is fine for the experience, but it is kind of a dump.  Looking forward to St Louis one day, and you never know what else will pop up.

So many more memories about baseball, but I do miss the traditions.  I think there are too many teams in the playoffs.  Heck, I think there are too many teams.  I liked it when pitchers pitched every fourth game, and for 8 or 9 innings.  I am not fond of some of these new statistics.  Quality start--5 innings, big deal.  WHIP.  I don't even know what some of this stuff is.  I hate that the steroid era happened, and that it skewed the stats, but that nobody will really admit it.  I don't like the way players are always hamming it up, but that has happened in all sports (life really, I guess), with the media coverage we have now.  I'm not on board with the interleague thing either.  You should all play the same teams the same number of times.  And I wish they would go back to opening the season in Cinncinatti.  The Reds are the oldest team in the majors, and they always used to open the season. and I liked that.  I don't like opening in Japan a week before everyone else.

As the season starts everyone has hope of playoffs and World Series dreams.  Hopefully the Crew will have a good year, there will be no scandals (ha), and I'll get out to the ol' ball yard for a few games.

Election Day

Just home from the polls, and I was kind of surprised at the number of people running unopposed.  Not that many races on this ballot, but still.  Village president, unopposed.  Judge, unopposed.  Supervisor, unopposed.  Then i got to thinking about why anyone would want to hold elected office, especially national office, like President or Senator.  It certainly can't be for the pay.  The President makes $400,000 per year, plus some for expenses, travel and what not.  I don't know the last time we had a President who wasn't really well off.  Truman maybe?  It can't be for the hours of the job, because you're basically always on the clock.  You can't get away from people, because at least secret service is always around.  A getaway with the wife?  I'm thinking not.  You do have the promise of the big payday after your term, but you need to put up with a lot to get there. And a senator has less of that-- the big payday that is.  They do take care of themselves with pensions and all, but these people are mostly pretty well off to start with.  The average net worth of a senator is nearly $14 million dollars.  They say they want to help people.  I say this is mostly BS.  There are plenty of ways to help people with out being in national office.  Much better ways to spend your time than all the committee meetings and filibusters and all the other stuff.  Oh and you'd better have a clean past, because somebody out there will dig up the dirt.  Don't say anything controversial.  It will catch up with you..

So why?  How about this.  Ego.  Everyone tells you how great you'll be.  You think you'll go down in history.  You figure you can do better than the last guy.  As President you will be the most powerful person in the world.  You will control people's futures.  Your plans and policies--well, probably not yours, but your advisers---you hope they become the law of the land.  You swing things to benefit your supporters, who tell you how great you are, and pour money into your reelection campaign so you can stoke your ego.  Vicious cycle. 

Simplified I know.   I know there are those who think their candidate has the best interests of the people above all else.  I hope you are right.  And I hope that when a person is elected they realize they are suppose to represent all the people, not just those who agree with them. 

Here in Wisconsin they predict a heavy turnout--35%.  This is heavy?  People, get out and vote.  Don't think of it as an obligation, think of it as a duty.  As much as you might not like the candidates, these are the choices offered.  So think about it and make a decision.  If you don't like the options, get involved!  Good luck to us all....

Advice---I'll keep it to myself......

When you have children you also have many responsibilities.  You need to take care of the child, provide for the child.  You also can generally point that child in certain directions in their lifes.  You start off picking their food and clothing, where they live, what they watch on TV.  You influence who they root for, what activites to participate in.  You decide where they go to school.  You decide their religion, or even if they will have any religious background.  You try and provide a good moral compass.  You answer questions, and if you are smart you ask questions as well.  And you try to advise them on all the many questions of life. 

And you probably will fail.  Somewhere along the way you will give bad or wrong advise.  Your child will make poor decisions.  Your child may rebel against you, sometimes for reasons neither you nor they fully understand.  You may have some difficult times of your own, and your child may "get away from you".  Or there may be some "bad influences", or the "wrong crowd".  Unfortunately, some of us will fail worse than others.  For those of us lucky enough to fail the least, we run into another problem.

Children grow up.  They stop needing decisions made for them, they make them on their own.  And though advice can still be given, they are going to do what they want to do.  You can't stop them, and I wouldn't want to.  I suppose growing up is making your own mistakes and learning from them.  And that is the difficult part.  You'd like to say something, to give some advise, to give the benefit of experience.  But I guess some things are best learned through one's own experiences rather than through those of others.  

 So from here on out I'm keeping my opinions to myself.  I will no longer say"If I were you...".  I will still ask questions, and they may be leading questions, but I will only ask them to get some thought, not to sway.  If asked, I will gladly share any experiences I have, and will also give any advise.  If asked.  Otherwise, I'll keep it to myself....