February 2^nd marks the half-way point between the Winter Solstice and the Vernal Equinox.  And, on that day in the little town of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, Phil the groundhog will emerge from his burrow to determine whether Winter will continue for six more weeks or an early Spring will commence.  Not merely in Punxsutawney, but also in other locales in the United States, Canada, and Australia will this ritual play out.

During my lifetime, there have been many Groundhog Days, more than I care to admit.  And, during that span, not one time in my recollection has Phil been unable to see his shadow (the condition necessary for the prognostication of an early Spring).  During that period, there have surely been many cloudy February 2nd’s.  In fact, on one particular Groundhog Day, the fog that morning was so thick that one could barely see his own outstretched arm, let alone see a shadow.  Yet, it was reported that Phil saw his shadow and Winter would continue for another six weeks.  From the foregoing, I can come to but one conclusion, and that is that groundhogs or their handlers are notorious liars.

At this time, in the United States, we find ourselves at another midway point.  We are midway through what has, in recent election cycles, become a two-year quest to win the Presidency of the United States.  During this period, Presidential aspirants burrow out from wherever they have been hibernating, test the political climate, and make a decision as to whether or not to seek the Presidential nomination of their political party.  Unlike Punxsutawney Phil, their ultimate decisions are not predictable.  Like Phil, however, there is a good deal of prevarication in their messages.

In recent Presidential election cycles, success has followed a relatively simple formula.  First, cultivate a base of support.  Second, utilize that base to generate hundreds of millions of dollars or more of funding, thereby demonstrating to members of your party that you have the resources to be a winner.  Third, moderate your positions to broaden your appeal without alienating your base.  Elegantly simple, yet surprisingly difficult to execute, the formula has been critical to success in both securing party nominations and winning the ultimate prize, the Presidency.

The problem with the formula and the entire electoral process is that, in order to be elected, candidates must lie to the voters.  Euphemisms aside, assuming that a candidate defines himself accurately to his base, his redefinition for mass appeal must then be a fabrication.  In concrete, yet simple terms, Democrats begin by appealing to a predominantly liberal party base and  Republicans to a conservative base to secure the Presidential nomination of their respective parties.  To win the election, however, the successful candidate must hold his base while gaining the preponderance of the vote of the more moderate majority of voters in the populace at large.

In practice, this means changing positions, renouncing or explaining away previous positions, or making promises that contradict stated positions or established values.  Yet, one must assume that once elected, that individual will govern from his core principals.  What then is the general electorate to make of the reversals and promises made to win election to the highest office in the land?  In my opinion, they represent distortions of true positions at best and outright lies at worst.

And, the problem seems to be worsening over time.  As candidates “keep their eyes on the prize” in an increasingly lengthy nomination and election process, they seemingly will do or say anything in order to win.  Our Founding Fathers, I believe, would not approve.

The purpose of national elections, in my estimation, is to allow competing ideas and philosophies to be soberly debated with the electorate being the final arbiter of the direction in which our country is guided.  As candidates misrepresent or obfuscate their true positions, voters are denied the ability to make an informed decision and effectively disenfranchised.  Given those circumstances, one might just as well vote for Punxsutawney Phil. 

The term sound money, also known as honest, strong, or hard currency relates to its value in terms of the world’s standards.  For example, when you visit a foreign country, you may be compelled to exchange your U.S. dollars for the coin of the realm if you wish to purchase goods, pay the fee to enter a museum, or do anything else that a tourist may wish to do.

This is just what I did when I traveled to Italy in 2000.  At that time, the rate of exchange was 2,000 liras to every U.S. dollar.  Thus, by exchanging 100 of my U.S. dollars, I received 200,000 liras.  For the first time in my life, I felt like a millionaire!  But when I purchased food, wine, or gifts for my family back home, I learned that the prices of these commodities were inflated, thus creating a money system that paid 2,000 liras to every one of my little ol’ U.S. dollars.

Liras or dollars, Euros or rupees, the real value of money lies in its purchasing power in the world market.  In my lifetime, I have witnessed and felt the affects of deflation and soaring inflation, and I am not alone.  Many are those who remember “the good old days” when our money went a helluva lot further than it does now.  In fact, cyberspace is abuzz with such memories, in the form of circulating e-mails concerning the prices of yesteryear.

For instance, in the 1920s, three pounds of steak cost 50 cents in a typical New York City butcher’s establishment!  And this was a retail price paid by regular consumers, not a wholesale price.  During the Great Depression, a new automobile cost $800 dollars.  Today, the average new car, not a luxury car, can run as much as 40 times more: $ 32,000!

Most of us simply accept the fact that we must pay more for the same goods that we once bought for far less.  Escalating prices are like a ladder whose summit is always out of reach, and a very familiar ladder at that.  We’ve been conditioned to accept the concept and the harsh realities of inflation.

It’s easy to blame inflation — the dwindling purchasing power of our money as reflected in the costs of goods and services — on the greed of the manufacturers.  Manufacturers are those that produce finished goods as well as those that produce merchandise, such as automotive parts, that contribute to the manufacture or assembly of finished goods.  And it would be right and just to lay blame at the manufacturers’ feet.  But where does the government come into this equation?  Are our lawmakers exempt from blame?

Some suggest that they are.  Some suggest that the American Constitution, as written by our Founding Fathers, states that U.S. currency is to be backed by precious metals (gold and silver).  If our government followed these guidelines, it would place limits upon the amount of paper money and coins that it printed, minted, and distributed via the Federal Reserve.  Some believe that the more money we print or mint without limitation, the more the currency could be considered counterfeit as per their interpretation of the Constitution.

When crafting this part of the Constitution, our Founding Fathers no doubt relied upon the history of gold’s stability.  From the days of the ancient Pharaohs, gold has been the one commodity, worldwide, that has never devalued.  Gold has, in fact, risen in value over the years, representing the one form of monetary exchange that has remained unshakable during times of economic flux and crisis.  So sure a bet was gold that our government kept its stores under lock, key, and guard, at the United States Bullion Depository, a fortified vault adjacent to Fort Knox, Kentucky.

On March 14, 1900, the Congress of the United States signed into law the Gold Standard Act. This, in essence, established the price of gold at $20.67 per ounce in U.S. money.  This was in force until the Great Depression.  In 1933, under the threat of a collapsing, paper money-based economy, President Franklin Roosevelt denied private gold ownership to its citizens, with the exception of jewelry.

In 1946, the Bretton Woods system was enacted to fix the exchange rate.  It allowed foreign governments to sell gold to the U.S. at the price of $35.00 an ounce; this continued until August 15, 1971.  In 1971, then-President Richard M. Nixon ceased the trading of gold at $35.00 an ounce.  For the first time in history, formal links between major world currencies and real commodities were severed. The gold standard has not been used in any major economy since.

Today, almost every country, including the U.S., is using fiat money, defined as “money that is intrinsically useless,” used only as a medium of exchange.

Doesn’t that make you feel secure knowing that your money, whether it’s stored under your mattress or in a savings account, has no worth if the economics of the country should change?  Maybe it’s time to spend that useless money for something real!  “Don’t get stuck holding a bag of useless money” may emerge as yet another quote from a White House insider.

Maybe that’s why Publishers Clearing House is giving away “A Million Dollars a Year for Life” and why President Obama is borrowing trillions of Chinese fiat dollars, because … it’s only paper!

Do insiders know what the government doesn’t want its people to know?  “The people” of course are you and me and our neighbors, the average taxpayers, the ones left holding the bag when calamity strikes.  The cold hard fact is that money used for solely exchange purposes is governed by the supply and demand of consumers.

For instance, if people stopped buying gasoline, the price of gas at the pump would dip to twenty-five cents a gallon due to the lack of demand.  If you recall just a few years ago, consumers did manage to drive down the price of gas without so much as anything as organized (or disorganized) as “Occupy Wall Street.”   The price of gas had gotten so high that many people nationwide began to carpool and also cut back on unnecessary trips by car.  The gas companies felt the pinch and thus lowered prices at the pump.  Slowly and inexorably, however, those prices have crept back up.   They did so due to supply and demand.  Once the prices went down, more people stopped carpooling and engaged in their normal driving activities; therefore, they needed (demanded) more gas!

Thus, we “the people” are doomed to be the victims of devalued currencies.  If money were to become sound once again, it would regulate prices because it would be in demand.  Until and unless it does, the guys holding the useless money — the average taxpayer — get shortchanged.  And that’s no pun.

Nearly 40,000 new laws go into effect this year.  Some will have less impact on American’s everyday lives, others will be very influential.  Below you will find some of the most influential and interesting laws to go into effect in 2012.

Minimum Wage

The following 8 states will be raising their minimum wage in 2012:  Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Montana, Ohio, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington.  Additionally, the city of San Francisco will raise its minimum wage, making it the highest minimum wage in U.S. history.

Illegal Immigration

Several states will see laws affecting illegal immigrants go into effect:

Alabama employers will now be required by law to use E-Verify, a federal system that verifies that employees are in the U.S legally.

Georgia will begin implementing a similar system similar to Alabama.  A gradual implementation, by July of 2013 Georgia will require all businesses with more than 10 employees to use the E-Verify system on new employees. 

Tennessee will also implement a system like Alabama and Georgia’s; the state will see a law that requires all business with 6 or more employees to utilize the E-Verify system on employees. 

South Carolina will implement a law that allows for businesses to have their licenses rescinded if they do not use E-Verify on their employees. 

California will implement several immigration related laws.  For instance, undocumented state university students can now receive payment for working in student government, and private financial aid.

Other Laws

California

By law, California schools will now require that gay and disabled people who made historical contributions to the world be included in their educational teaching programs.

Illinois

Motorcyclists can officially run red lights after waiting a, “reasonable amount of time,” at a red light in Illinois.  Very interesting also is that another law going into effect will allow schools to expel or suspend students who threaten school personnel or other students online; this law is an obvious response to the cyber bullying issue that has come to light recently.

Michigan

Michigan sees a change in its hunting laws.  Now children of any age can hunt under the condition that they are accompanied by someone who is aged 21 or older.

New Hampshire

Young girls seeking abortions are now required to either tell their parents or go before a judge before they can legally have an abortion.

Rhode Island and Tennessee

Both states will implement a law that requires all voters to present a photo ID when they go to vote. 

Utah

By law, restaurants, bars, and so on can no longer offer drink specials in an effort to cut down on drinking and driving.

Amber Paley is a guest post and article writer bringing to us some of the laws that go into effect in 2012.  Amber also writes about nursing home abuse.

Sometime before recorded history, mankind … some of mankind, anyway … learned that to trade with others was neater than killing to possess what another had.  Thus, the barter system came into being.  Swapping one’s goods for another’s goods was expedient, until the concept of money came into play.

One of the earliest forms of money was salt, for in the days before refrigeration, salt was essential to the preservation of meat, and meat (protein) was essential to the preservation of human life.  People would hand over a bag of salt to whoever had goods they’d wanted to acquire; the size of the bag varied with the asking price of the goods.   When people learned to extract salt from the sea and primitive mines, it became more plentiful and so, the mineral no longer enjoyed as great a demand.  Humans then began to barter precious metals instead of salt, bars of gold and silver.  Somewhere along the way, some genius determined that paper money and small coins minted from gold and silver were easier to cart around on one’s person than gold or silver bullion.

Eventually, the acquisition of money — wealth — became an end in and of itself.   The more wealth one acquired, the more power one possessed and the more avaricious one became.  Whether acquired by a feudal overlord who kept his serfs under his thumb for their most basic necessities, or a conglomerate or huge banking institution abusing its power, money and the urge to possess mass quantities of it became the root of all evil.  For as Jesus Christ warned, “It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.”

Despite Jesus’ admonition, greed — nor William Shakespeare’s reproach, “Neither a borrower or a lender be” — never gave the mega financial institutions a moment’s pause.  If one did not possess the amount of money he needed to acquire the basic necessities (i.e., a home), one knocked on the doors of the financial giants.  Behind those doors, the giants grinned and rubbed their gluttonous hands together, plotting to become more profitable.  Thus was born the practice of charging interest: additional fees for money lent to consumers and other businesses, and additional monies given to consumers or other businesses that allowed the banks to use their deposited money to the bank’s own ends.

While most banks pay out interest to their depositors in the neighborhood of 5% or lower for keeping a saving account open, the institutions charge as much as 30% in interest to consumers who apply for and receive credit cards from the banks.  And, it doesn’t stop there!  Some banks sold mortgages to naïve borrowers who paid back only the interest; their paybacks were never applied to the principal!  Legislation was then enacted to protect the consumer against such practices, thereby creating the amortized loan.  Amortized over a span of many years, each monthly mortgage payment was then applied to interest as well as principal.

Although our current laws demand that banks must be transparent with lenders when selling different types of loans, the banks always find a way to screw the little guy.  It wasn’t enough, just before President George W. Bush left office, that he and his cronies bequeathed $710 billion in bailout monies to the big banks and insurance companies.   Greed is a hungry monster that is never satisfied.   Banks such as Bank of America, to name one, were then caught red-handed, charging their customers for incidentals such as the use of debit cards, or the more prevalent practice of charging as much as $30.00 for bounced checks written out for far less than that amount.

When called on the carpet about those bounced check fees, a representative of Bank of America blatantly stated, in a formal, public announcement, that although her bank would rectify that situation, it would still find ways to extract extra cash from unsuspecting customers! And only a recent uproar from the general public, overturned the fee that Bank of America wished to attach to the use of debit cards.

Although banks may advertise their services as “free checking,” “free online banking,” and other freebies, the truth is another matter.  “Free checking” usually requires a minimum balance of $100 in one’s checking account.  “Free online banking” permits the bank to pay the float on your money, as most banks can take up to 5 days to process a transaction you request.

In all cases, the banks keep a portion of our accounts, to do with as they please, without paying us interest.  Government at the Federal, State, and local levels probably use these same, self-serving practices.  If you doubt this, consider tax credits issued to taxpayers.  These credits are not given in monetary form, but in the form of a statement.  The taxpayer uses the credit and the debtor accepts it without any money being transacted.   The debtor is satisfied, but what about the taxpayer?  He or she never saw any money in the first place, so how can they be sure that they’d really received a credit or just a statement to placate the masses and keep even more money in governments’ pockets?

Yes, the manipulation of money is highly profitable, if the right ones are holding the sacks of dough, that is.  Have you noticed how the devaluation of money was achieved by manipulating public perception?  Not very long ago, millionaires were considered rich beyond the wildest dreams of most people.  Now, millions are chicken change.  Billions, trillions, and quadrillions are the way to go, the path to overwhelming wealth.   All of this money is ground out and doled out daily by the Federal Reserve Bank (but not to hardworking taxpayers).  When money is printed and exchanged in billions and trillions of dollars, its purchasing power will diminish to the point where dump trucks will be needed to carry it to market … again, not by the average taxpayer, who actually work for his or her living.

Those dump trucks may not be all that far behind.  Remember how gold and silver bullion was abandoned in days of yore, in favor of lighter paper currency and coins?  Well, recent trends indicate that savvy (read: rich) investors are returning once again to gold bullion as a hedge against a tanking economy.  If we as a nation should return fully to the gold standard, our present-day U.S. dollars would shrink in number.  And those of us who cannot afford to buy gold bullion will, once again, be screwed.  But the banks will still stand strong.  Who said feudalism is dead?  It may be some time before I get to heaven, but when I do, I’ll wager that there are more camels up there than rich bastards.

“Ask not what your country can do for you,

but what you can do for your country.”

(President John F. Kennedy)

Although John F. Kennedy’s reign as our nation’s 35th President was all too brief, he left behind a legacy of courage in action.  This included his support of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., resulting in the passage of legislation that led to Constitutional equality for people of color.  These and other acts identified JFK as a President who truly cared about the citizens of this country.  After his assassination, eight Presidents succeeded him.   In none of them have we, the people, found a leader who has measured up to JFK’s strides toward a better future for every American citizen.

In the 48 years since JFK’s murder, promising and seemingly sincere Presidential candidates have come and gone.  Some were defeated in the November elections by those who took office in the White House; some were defeated by carefully calculated political assassinations before their names could ever appear on a Presidential ballot.  Herman Cain was one of those candidates in the latter category.

A product of the School of Hard Knocks and a successful businessman, Cain understood firsthand the plight of the American people.  He understood how we have suffered under a government that stole from the poor and gave to the rich, the powerful, the callous, and the undeserving.  In response to this situation, Cain crafted an original plan, 9-9-9, designed to restore fiscal and economic sanity to our nation waiting too long for a savior.

But, an old scandal — which Cain had resolved legally years ago — resurfaced via his political enemies, causing him to bow out of the Presidential race.  So much for the land of the free and the home of the brave, eh?  Had Jesus been in the same race, his detractors would no doubt have nailed him to a political cross rather than a wooden one.

Cain, however, refused to die.

Just when America thought he’d gone away quietly and for all time, Cain has returned to offer us a measure of hope.  Like a Phoenix, he is rising from his own ashes by bringing 9-9-9 before Congress.  He aspires to achieve the bi-partisan support needed to endorse his plan before the 2012 election occurs. And, he has called upon the electorate (we, the people) to issue an ultimatum to their representatives in Washington, DC: “Endorse 9-9-9 or lose our votes!”

If we, the people, rise to Cain’s challenge, we can effect positive change in this nation.  I speak of genuine change, not the type of change promised by previous administrations, including the incumbent President, who never delivered on their promises.  By following Cain’s lead, we can alter the tax code, increase revenue, and put America on the road to financial recovery.  The true beauty of this plan is that we can accomplish this regardless of who is elected President!

God willing and we do accomplish this, history will record the logic, vision, and perseverance of a man who put country first in times of crisis and left an indelible mark upon its political scene: Herman Cain.

If you are interested in making history, if you are interested in putting a stop to the royal screwing that we, the people, have been getting for far too long from our lawmakers, support Herman Cain’s 9-9-9 plan.  Visit his website and vow to make you, your family, and JFK proud by doing something of true value for your country. 

Related Articles:

The Cain Scrutiny

Innuendo

Farewell Citizen Cain

Placing a loved one into a nursing home is a tough decision, and you need to be aware of the abuses that take place in nursing homes and know how to choose a quality facility.

Nursing Home Abuse

As sad as it is, nursing home abuse occurs every day and much more often than many of us know.  According to a 2008 Health and Human Services (HHS) report, 91 percent of nursing homes in the United States were found to have deficiencies.  A deficiency, as defined by HHS, is, “When a nursing home fails to meet one or more of the Federal requirements, surveyors cite a deficiency.  There are 190 possible deficiencies…”  Seventeen percent of nursing homes were found by HHS to have deficiencies that did or could have resulted in serious injuries to nursing home residents. 

In terms of nursing home abuse, women, older patients, and those patients with escalated physical and mental disabilities or illnesses are especially at risk.  Nursing home abuse takes place in 5 forms: physical, sexual, emotional, neglect, and financial.  Unfortunately, nursing homes demand for staff is unmet, thus nursing homes are understaffed.

Nearly 91 percent of nursing homes are understaffed.  As a result of understaffing, residents do not receive enough care time each day according to the HHS.¹  In 2002 the HHS² found that those in understaffed nursing facilities are, “more likely to experience bedsores, malnutrition, weight loss, dehydration, pneumonia and serious blood-borne infections.”  The understaffing problem is so evident that the Obama Administration has added multiple committees and services to its health care reform plan to encourage health professionals to work in nursing home facilities. 

An effect of understaffing is that many nursing homes, in grave need of staff, employ people with criminal records³.  The HHS reported in early 2011 that, “92 percent of nursing facilities employed at least one individual with at least one criminal conviction.”⁴  Only 7.7% of nursing homes didn’t employ a single employee with a criminal conviction.  Nearly 52% of nursing homes had between 1% and 5% of staff members with criminal convictions, and 26% had between 10% and 15% of staff members with criminal convictions. 

Choosing a Quality Facility

The above information is only the tip of the iceberg.  Given just that, it is abundantly clear that choosing a facility that will offer your loved one quality care is imperative; these are some of the steps one should take to ensure their loved one is in a quality facility:

1. Use Medicare.org’s Resources 

The Medicare website has several helpful resources to aid you in your search for the right facility for your loved one.  They have a “Nursing Home Checklist” for you to take with you when you visit facilities.  They also created a guide, i.e. “Your Guide to Choosing a Nursing Home,” that provides citizens with detailed information for choosing a nursing home.

2. Do Your Research 

There are tons of resources, both governmental and health related.  Here are a few:

Gero Nurse Online

Gero Nurse Online is the official website for the American Nurses Association’s Nurse Competence in Aging initiative.  It provides people with resources, up-to-date news, and various topic discussions on the world of nursing home care.  They provide you with important information that you may not think about when searching for a nursing home.  For instance, they recently posted a quick article about Disaster Preparedness, which is something you should discuss with the nursing homes you are considering.

CarePathways.com

After finding the internet to be a daunting place to get legitimate information on services, education, and products surrounding the nursing home industry, as well as information on nursing home facilities, a group of RN’s who specialized in geriatric care began to this website to aid those in need of such information.

3. Visit Your Potential Facilities 

Visiting is an imperative step in the selection process.  You need to feel that the environment is suitable for your loved one.  You should also ask as many questions as you can to get a feel for the staff and facility.  Trust your instincts; if you feel uneasy about a facility, there’s probably a reason for it.

Amber Paley is a guest post and article writer providing information on nursing home abuse and choosing a nursing home for a loved one.

Amber spends much of her professional life writing about nursing home abuse.

[1] “State-Initiated Nursing Home Nurse Staffing Ratios: Annotated Review of the Literature.” Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, HHS. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, May 2003. Web. 13 Dec. 2011. http://aspe.hhs.gov/daltcp/reports/2003/ratiolit.htm.

[2] Pear, Robert. “9 of 10 Nursing Homes in U.S. Lack Adequate Staff, a Government Study Finds – New York Times.” The New York Times – Breaking News, World News & Multimedia. 18 Feb. 2002. Web.

[3] Levinson, Daniel R. Memorandum Report: “Trends in Nursing Home Deficiencies and Complaints” Rep. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 18 Sept. 2008. Web. http://oig.hhs.gov/oei/reports/oei-02-08-00140.pdf.

[4] “NURSING FACILITIES’ EMPLOYMENT OF INDIVIDUALS WITH CRIMINAL CONVICTIONS.” Hhs.gov. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Mar. 2011. Web. http://oig.hhs.gov/oei/reports/oei-07-09-00110.pdf.

In the days before we’d inherited a mortgage, the hubby and I enjoyed traveling overseas.  Our first foray, buoyed on the pages of Tom Fowler’s The Magus, was to Greece.

Our arrival in the Athens airport was not auspicious; two weeks earlier, terrorists had targeted that airport.  Too late to secure a refund, we assumed that lightning would not strike twice in the same place.  But as the metal detector shrieked at us like the Sirens of mythology, we were politely pulled aside by airport security.  My husband had packed a tiny mustache scissors and these, apparently, constituted a potential threat.  In typical New York fashion, I snatched up the scissors, brandishing them angrily in the security guard’s face, demanding if he were kidding.  God rescues the idiots among us, so we were free to go, with the scissors in tow.

The lovely hotel room had a private bath that included a bidette. I stumbled upon it, and nearly into it, with all the wonder of Stanley beholding Dr. Livingston for the first time.  Clueless as to its use, I made a transatlantic call to my grandmother, who’d been born in Italy and who knew about these things.  She revealed the most basic of directions and told me I’d love that bidette.  The ensuing scene, replete with a frenzied call to the concierge, resembled the Three Stooges film when the clueless trio assumed the job of plumbers and proceeded to flood their client’s home.  My first and last time with a bidette!

After three days in Athens, we sailed the blue Aegean.  As the sun blossomed in the sky each morn, we toured various islands, including Crete, the home of the legendary Minotaur, and Santorini, the rumored resting place of the lost civilization of Atlantis.  But when we debarked from the skiff in an emerald cove to see the empty funicular upon the shores of Rhodos (“Rhodes”), my heart sank.  We were ordered to either board the funicular or take a donkey ride up the mountain … provided the donkeys didn’t decide to mate on the way up (a popular spectator sport in Greece, apparently).  Allergic to equines, not keen to watch Dominic and Doris do the horizontal, er, vertical mambo, and deathly afraid of heights, I crept into the funicular and hugged the floor.  Literally.

From that position, as the car creaked slowly up the side of the mountain, as I was certain that the cable would snap any moment, plunging us down to a horrific death, I confessed every sin I’d ever committed — and what I’d planned to do to make up for each one.  Unfortunately, I had an audience … dang pesky American tourists along for the ride! … who so enjoyed the impromptu entertainment that they begged me step up to the mic for Amateur Comics Night on board the ship that night.

Fearing the funicular on the return trip like most people fear a root canal without anesthesia, we were told that we could simply walk down to the beach!  Going, the dreaded funicular was optional!  Good thing the Greeks were unschooled in Italian curses, or I’d have set American-Greek relations back a few hundred years.

That night, we set sail for the island of Lesbos, where we were unable to debark due to extremely rough waters.  An unexpected storm tore through our path, rocking the cruise ship a helluva lot worse than any runaway train down the New York City subway tracks.  The dining room was only one-third full when we arrived, with my husband already green at the gills.  One look at the bread basket and he nearly lost it.  A minute later, he was high-tailing it back to our cabin, with a lot of other passengers, just as green, hot on his heels.

Me? I ate and loved the entire, delicious meal.  The waiter eyed me as if I’d suddenly sprouted another head upon my shoulders, sort of like a child of Zeus.  “What’s for dessert?” I quipped, wiping my lips daintily as other passengers tossed their cookies ’round the dining room … and not the kind of cookies that came on a dessert tray.  I was enjoying the pleasant swaying motion of the ship, whose deck was now positioned skyward, at a 45-degree angle.  As glasses, dinnerware, and wine bottles slid off tables, as passengers slid beneath them, I asked the waiter, “Can you please make up a tray for my husband?  He missed his dinner; I’ll take it to him.”  Again, I got that odd look; I knew not why.

I negotiated the roiling deck uphill, balancing the tray like a pro and taking perverse pleasure in the obstacle course of scattered silverware, spilled wine, and doubled-over passengers.  I should probably insert here that I excelled at gymnastics in high school, due to my petite frame and height.  As my center of gravity is lower than most humans’, I never get seasick and very much enjoy a rocking ocean when I’m sailing upon one.

It took a few tries to steady the key in the lock of our cabin, as the door shifted along with the sea.  Once successful, I proffered the sumptuous tray to my husband, who was hanging out of our berth like a parched man off a camel in the desert.  “Look what I brought you!” I chirped.  “The entire dinner!”   He barely made it to the head intact and to this day, calls me a sadist for my innocent act of kindness.   To the sound of his upchucking, I fell into a blissful sleep, rocked as if in the cradle.  I still swear that that was the best night’s sleep of my entire life!

Our last day was spent on the beautiful, laid back isle of Mykonos … which the guides had failed to warn us boasted a topless beach.  “Cool!” I breathed, untying the top of my bikini under the hot sun.  “What the hell are you doing!?!” my husband thundered.  “No one on this beach knows us,” I pointed out reasonably.  “If I’m ever going to go topless, now’s the time.”  He gave me so much grief that I abandoned the idea, even as the eyes roll around in his head like errant pinballs at the sight of all the nubile, unbounded flesh.  “I’m sorry, I’m oblivious, I swear, I won’t look any more!” he promised.  But when we patronized a small food stand on the beach, the words that rolled off his tongue like butter were, “I’ll take two burgers, two Cokes, and two tits!”  In revenge, I managed to go topless for not quite 60 seconds before he tossed his towel over me like Sir Walter Raleigh throwing his cape over a noxious puddle.

En route back home, we got stopped again in the Athens airport.  This time, it was my box of Borghese® eye shadows that set off the alarms.  The very same guard eyed me with deep trepidation, easing the cover off the makeup case as he would the top of Pandora’s Box.   Nothing inimical in there but twenty gorgeous shades of sparking eye shadow (hey, this was the late ’80′s!). “I don’t understand,” he admitted in his thick accent.  “Me either,” I shrugged, and then, it dawned on us both.  The metals in the eye makeup had set off the alarms; they’d been overlooked the first time, in light of the tiny moustache scissors!  “Lady,” the guard muttered, closing the box with a shudder and handing it back to me, “You’re dangerous!”

“You don’t know the half of it,” my husband muttered under his breath. 

When humans began to walk upright, they relied upon the five senses endowed by The Creator to survive in a harsh environment.  Along with the organic senses of sight, smell, hearing, touch, and taste, God in His infinite wisdom included an innate sense of awareness.  This “sixth sense” existed to clue early man into the fact that danger, in the form of predatory animals, an unforgiving landscape, or inimical tribes, were lurking nearby — even though undetected by any or all of man’s five senses!   This awareness, if you will, served as a survival mechanism.  As humanity evolved, so did its sense of awareness.

Awareness is the factor that puts one initially on his guard.  Once those factors have been carefully weighed, awareness allows one to make the decision to trust — or not.  Trust, in turn, is defined as:

1.       Assured reliance of the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something.

2.       Dependence upon something, future or contingent.

3.       A property interest held by one person for the benefit of another person or persons.

The word trust is used in various situations, most commonly, with respect to relationships (i.e., lovers, friends, partners, employer and employee, etc.) or contractual agreements (i.e., marriages, businesses, the transfer, purchase, or sale of real property).  Trust is something that is earned, and it takes time to earn it.  It is never given lightly, like a cheap prize won at a carnival.  Now just past the threshold of a brand new year, the word trust has taken on deeper, more ominous meanings.

Given the current state of the world, with its widespread economic woes and proof of governments who care nothing for their citizens, the concept of trust has been tested to the limits.  In years gone by, we, the people, trusted in our lawmakers.  We trusted them to represent us, the voters; we trusted them to pass legislation for the good of the majority.  We define “majority” here as the bulk of our populace, meaning, not a relative handful of politicians, not the wealthy, and not special interest groups.  We define “majority” as the middle class (the workers, those who must earn paychecks in order to survive).

In the past, our lawmakers have, more often than not, earned our trust. If you, dear reader, doubt this, think of the great lawmakers and law-influencers of American history.  Think of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin, Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: all men who put the greater good above all else.

Now, however, our lawmakers seem to be on the side of the “haves” rather than the “have nots.”  As this reality is revealed more and more with each passing day, we find that we must ask our lawmakers the following questions:

1.       Must we, the people, accept a global society?

2.       Do elected representatives defy the will and needs of their constituents?

3.       Do we need a private bank to sell and purchase U.S. dollars?

These are just a few questions that concern and frustrate the American people as we struggle to remain a free and open society.  Clearly, we don’t trust our government or big business as we once did, and this is not good for the nation.  Without trust, our economy would crumble; credit without collateral would be non-existent.  With less consumer demand, fewer products are produced in this country, and the loss of manufacturing has had a negative, domino effect upon all other industries. Thousands of people who are unemployed will be forced to sell their possessions to survive — if they can find buyers with the desire and wherewithal to purchase what they are selling.

Perhaps, God saw the lay of the land from the very moment that he created Adam and Eve.  Perhaps, He foresaw a human race that would evolve and lay claim to immense strides in science, medicine, and technology.  Perhaps, He foresaw governments later leading their citizens down the road to perdition.  And perhaps, that is why we, as a race, have retained that special sixth sense linked so closely with trust.   This is food for thought as we cull and consider the list of hopefuls vying for the highest position in the land: the Presidency of the United States of America. 

My little niece, now 22 years old, has always run to extremes.  In her academic career, she’s consistently ranked among the top 5% of her class, even in Physics, her “bear” subject.  Jaimie* even earned a partial scholarship to Columbia University, to pursue her Master’s degree, but in typical Jaimie fashion, chose a much smaller, non-Ivy League school closer to home.  Her clothing, makeup, accessories, and techno-gadgets, ever since I can remember, are the prettiest, the best, the most current.  Anything else, she’s eschewed with the snobbery mustered only by the young and uber-confident.  About six years ago, my niece latched onto another extreme in her eating habits.

Red meat has not touched her lips in all that time.  Fat is avoided at all costs, unless it is “good fat,” such as that provided by salmon, tuna, or halibut (and she won’t eat much of the latter two, due to the threat of mercury).  She shops at the wonderful and costly Whole Foods® whenever possible, though there is but one such store in her area, and even that is located a distance from her home.  Jaimie’s daily, no bad carbs diet consists of the following, in this exact order:

1. Oatmeal with skim milk, nuts, and fruits (no sweetener of any kind, not even Agave nectar).

2. An organic apple with all-natural almond butter

3. A cup of plain Greek yogurt with fresh or dried blueberries

4. Another piece of fruit of her choosing, organic, of course

5. Multitudinous vegetables for dinner with approximately 3 ounces of lean protein

On New Year’s Eve, I watched my niece, who is 5’6″ without an ounce of discernable fat on her frame, who enjoys running, and who is not, thank God, anorexic, gobble two cookies and then beat herself up about it.   I told her to forgive herself, for it was a small discretion committed on a holiday.  I said this as I popped the pills that I am compelled to take nightly, to counteract allergies, asthma, and another health issue that, if not properly managed, can be significant.

At three o’clock on the morn of the brand new year, after kissing my niece and the rest of the family goodbye, I arrived home to a small miracle.  My older kitty, who has not been doing well, was not only eating on her own, unassisted, she was eating the healthiest food of all: her new, lower-protein kibble that she has been unable to manage of late.  My husband and I had consulted a homeopathic vet for her earlier that same day, a vet who’d put our girl on all-natural whey protein and who showed us an easier way to give her the necessary fluids via IV.

I awoke on January 1st thinking that none of this could be a coincidence, including the date on the calendar portending a new start.

Maybe Jaimie isn’t such an extremist, after all; surely, she will be healthier than her aunt as well as a lot of others who are not as conscious of their diet and exercise.  And methinks the homeopathic vet is on to something, particularly considering that the state-of-the-art veterinary service we’d consulted previously had sent my husband and me home to sit a deathwatch on our beloved cat.

I am the first one to use and promote homeopathic products (i.e., salt or honey to close small wounds, a Netty Pot® to clear stuffy sinuses, red wine to stave off macular degeneration).  But I could be better about my overall diet, and in fact, I was, when I was diagnosed early this year with the afore-mentioned condition.  I actually love healthy foods but don’t eat enough of them.

In the manner of many Italian-Americans, I’d cooked three fish salads for this New Year’s Eve celebration, knowing that they and their leftovers would be both tasty and extremely healthy.  But my husband had picked up small trays of eggplant rollatini and stuffed shells at a local salameria, so that I would not have to cook for New Year’s Day.  As I scooped out the rich food to warm it up, I pulled off all of the external mozzarella, thinking, “That stuff is going right into our arteries.”   By the time I was done with the mozzarella, I didn’t even want to eat the food, but neither did I want to waste our hard-earned money.

“There’s a healthier way to do both dishes,” I thought, “and I’m going to find them.”   Small changes, over time, will yield big results.  Rarely do I make New Year’s resolutions, for rarely do I keep them.  But with Jaimie and our rallying kitty for inspiration, I made the resolution to treat my husband and myself better this year in terms of the foods that we consume and the amount of exercise in which we engage.  I think we can do it.  And I think we’re going to have a happier, much healthier New Year for it … ancient Mayan prophesies notwithstanding! 

*  A pseudonym, to protect my niece’s privacy.

As the year 2011 comes to a close, the world teeters on the precipice of major changes.  2011 witnessed the virtual collapse of the European Union and its currency, the Arab Spring, America’s debt crisis and ongoing economic woes, and a host of meteorological, climatic, and geological calamities – even in areas of the world not prone to such events.

As 2012 beckons, many perceive that the planet and mankind are faced with an imminent transformational moment – signaling either the end of this world, creation of a new plane of existence, or both.  Whether one chooses to reference the Holy Bible, the Mayan calendar, or any of a host of other ancient or modern traditions and writings, 2012 has the potential to provide us with the answers to mysteries, including:

Will Jesus return soon?

Are we alone in the universe?

Will solar activity devastate our technological infrastructure for years to come?

Is time travel possible?

Who will be the 45th President of the United States?

Will the Phillies win another World Series?

Is Certs a candy mint or a breath mint?

So, hold onto your hats and prepare for some turbulence as I attempt to predict some of the secrets that will be revealed during 2012.

Politics

Following a surprisingly strong finish in the Iowa Caucuses and a blowout victory in the New Hampshire Primary, Mitt Romney establishes himself as the presumptive nominee en route to capturing the Republican nomination for President of the United States.  At his party’s convention in Tampa, Florida, Romney tabs New Jersey Governor Chris Christie as his running mate, and they go on to defeat the Barack Obama – Hillary Clinton ticket in a close General Election.

Finance

European austerity measures fail to bolster the plummeting euro leading to deep divisions and ultimate dissolution of the European Union.  Ripple effect of European crisis, combined with lower U.S. company earnings reports and Middle Eastern crude oil supply disruptions, causes steep declines in American stocks with the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) falling below 7,500 in the late spring.  The U.S. double-dips into recession and unemployment again climbs over 9%.

International Affairs

The election of Vladimir Putin to again serve as Russian President is marred by claims of vote fraud and the cause of significant civil unrest; causing the newly-elected President to deploy the army to quell public demonstrations and riots.  In the Middle East, Iran continues to flex its muscles, threatening the use of nuclear weapons against Israel and seizure of control over shipping lanes for exportation of crude oil.  In Egypt, Islamic fundamentalists gain control, impose Sharia Law, and repudiate agreements with Israel and the United States.  The Arab Spring continues as the Syrian regime is toppled in late summer.

Entertainment

DreamWorks Pictures’ War Horse wins Best Picture honors at the 84th Academy Awards, along with an Oscar for Director Steven Spielberg.  The ridiculous trend toward “reality television” continues as cable networks scour the country  for oddballs, unemployed celebrities, and people who have made and leaked sex tapes on the Internet to star.  In related news, following a whirlwind courtship, Kim Kardashian marries former Major League Baseball star and admitted steroid user Jose Canseco, earning twice the $17 million she raked in for marrying Kris Humphries.  Admitting that the Ashton Kutcher experiment failed miserably, CBS cancels Two and a Half Men following dramatic ratings declines.  Charlie Sheen continues “winning.”

Sports

In a Super Bowl XLVI shootout, the New England Patriots best the Green Bay Packers 36-31.  March Madness finds Jim Boeheim again a winner.  Capping a season of turmoil at the Syracuse University campus, the Orange defeat the Missouri Tigers 72-61 to win the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament.  In the NBA, the strike-shortened season may have been the charm as the Miami Heat sweep the defending-champion Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals.  In the NHL, Beantown celebrates as the Boston Bruins take home the Stanley Cup by winning the deciding seventh game in their series with the Detroit Redwings.  And in Major League Baseball, the Philadelphia Phillies top the Anaheim Angels to win the 2012 World Series in six games.

Millennial and Otherworldly Events

Jesus returns on Pentecost Sunday, May 27, to commence his millennial reign.  On December 21, visitors from the planet Nibiru return to commemorate the calendar they taught to the Mayans.

Those are my predictions, and, I might add, not one of them is the least bit farfetched (except perhaps for the Kardashian-Canseco nuptials).  In fact, I think it’s highly likely that they’ll all occur exactly as outlined.  Think not!  Then, let me know.  At year’s end, if I’m still around, we’ll score the results.  Happy New Year, or not.