The Christmas Gift

Gift giving has gotten out of hand I say.  Yes it has says I.

Why do we empty out our wallets to give gifts to others, who rarely appreciate it, that only make us more in debt?

Is this what Christmas is really all about?

I think not.

Every year I give less and less.  I make more of the gifts using my talents that I've learned over the years.  This year my husband made gifts too.  If they aren't appreciated then so be it.

Christmas is a birthday.  Do you give gifts to the birthday person or get them on their birthday?  I give them when its a person's birthday.  So in this case who would I give the gift to?  What is the price limit?

I find that I would rather give of my heart, my time, and give from my talents in crafting to others.  I would rather buy American made when possible so that my gift buying gives the gift of jobs.

This year my husband and I have set a $100 limit of gift buying for one another.  All but one gift I purchased for him was made here in the USA.  The cheapest gift was made in China but I spent less than $10.00 on it so really that isn't too bad.  I've asked him to do the same and try to buy mostly American made gifts for me this year.  Its a real challenge.

However, what I really want can't be bought.  It can't be wrapped in pretty paper or tied up in a bow.  It won't fit under the tree, on a shelf or in a keyhole.  No what I really want this year is the gift that once given shouldn't be taken back, can't be exchanged, and will grow with time.  I want undying love.  The kind that will still be there even after I've shucked off my mortal coil.  I want respect and I've earned it.  I want kindness that all we humans deserve but so often forget to give to one another.

My gift wish list is long this year.  You can't buy what I want.  But you can give it freely.

Libya, The Third War

Tonight President Obama will be trying to decide if we are to intervene in the Libyan war.  It all comes down to humanitarian issues, pretty much domestic violence, and what Obama promised before he was elected President of the United States.

Mind you I didn't vote for Obama and I was a registered Democrat at the time.  Since then I've changed my political party to more suit, though not perfectly, my views.

Do we really need the added expensive of another war?  We aren't even fully out of Iraq, we are full force fighting in Afghanistan and our economy can't handle the drain of helping yet another country find its freedom.  Freedom is far from free when our own populous has to go without because gas prices are sky rocketing in the oil obsessed countries.

They are oil obsessed.  Most of them are fighting over control of their own oil fields.  Their civil unrest is now costing us more at the pump and I'd rather it not start costing us the lives of our American citizens.

I'm not a "liberal hippie" by any means.  I believe that at times war is the necessary decision.  But I don't like the thought that we are going to have to sacrifice more of our military, money, and resources on a doomed humanitarian issue that is called the Libyan war.  Let them fight it out amongst themselves, it went fairly well in Egypt a month ago.  If we go into Libya with guns blazing we'll have to fund a rebuild of their country when we can barely afford to keep our own government afloat.

We don't need foreign oil.  We have the Alaskan pipeline.  We have alternative fuel sources that are being back burnered just because our own government has deals on the table with foreign countries to buy their oil supplies.  How about we fund the alternative fuel projects with the funds that we were going to spend on helping Libya out?

Better yet how about we stop buying from China and buy more American made products.  Sure right now American made products are expensive but isn't buying quality worth it?  Why buy junk from a foreign country when you know its just going to get recalled or fall apart?  Eventually, given that Americans will decide to buy domestic products, our prices will drop and our economy will reach back to the top where it was two decades ago before we started farming out our jobs to foreign countries.

Libya, good luck on your war.  I don't want my country being a part of your domestic violence issues. 

WE ARENT THE WORLD'S POLICE!