Leaving America...

This last week we went back to Michigan to see my family and give my parents time to spend with their granddaughter. We decided to head back through Canada since it cuts off more than three hours from the trip. We have done this many times, but this time things changed a little on our departure.

As we drove up to the border, we were stopped by two border patrol officers. One was talking to the person in the van in front of us and the other came to our window. This was different since most border patrol officers are in their little cubical at the gates. This time they were both standing outside waiting for cars coming to them. The officer asked to see our passports. He asked us the usual questions - why are you traveling to Canada, are you planning on stopping anywhere in Canada, any guns or alcohol in the your possession? This was all normal.

While this was happening the officer that was dealing with the car in front of us had the person get out of his vehicle. She asked him to open the back of the van so she could look in. The thing I noticed was that the gentlemen was of middle eastern decent. The officer that was dealing with us didn't go any further than asking us the normal questions and smiling the whole time. Then another van drove by us on the right hand side. This car was not stopped. The officer told the women, who started to run after the van that it was so and so. She smiled and nodded at our officer and continued with her driver.

We were handed our information back to us and were waved on. We put all our information away thinking that we were on our way to Canada. Now this all seems normal until we got to another gate where we had to give our passports over again. Come to find out the first stop that we had to make was actually the U.S. border patrol. The Vermont boarder patrol had officers asking people why they are leaving the U.S. Do we now have to get permission to travel outside America? Why were they so much more interested in the man in front of us than they were us? I think that they were doing some racial profiling. Why didn't they look in our van? And why are they concerned with who is leaving the country?

I told Mark the next time we leave and they stop us, we should tell them we are defecting. I just want to see what reaction it would get and how long we would have to be in jail.

Finally...

This tells me that our government finally understands that we, as Americans, have the right to protest and have a right to freedom of speech. To bad Rep. Dave Weldon (R-FL) doesn't see that. He feels that if people protest on the street, it's OK. But god forbid that people respectfully protest to our government's face. That would just be wrong. Rep. Dave Weldon, read the Constitution:

Amendment I: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

From the Youtube site:

When Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice testified before the House Appropriations Committee on Wednesday, a contingent from the antiwar group Code Pink was in the back row, holding up bloody hands in protest.

Rep. Dave Weldon (R-FL) found the silent protest difficult to handle and asked the chair if it was possible to eject the protesters. "I've never seen anything like this before," he complained. "We're trying to hold a hearing. I find all these protesters in here really distracting. Is there any kind of rule or policy? ... I'm all for freedom of speech on the street, but we're trying to listen to the Secretary of State here and people are holding up placards."

Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY), who was chairing the hearing, replied, "Dr. Weldon, let me just say I appreciate your comments, but we're here in the United States of America, and as long as they don't disrupt this proceedings, and as long as they're silent, they will be welcome."

"It's a very important hearing but I think it's being turned into a circus," Weldon insisted.

"I respect your views but as long as the protesters are quiet and they sit down and they don't disrupt the hearings, everybody is welcome," Lowey stated again.

After Rice completed her testimony and was leaving the hearing, the protesters began chanting, "The Blood Is on Your Hands" and "Get Us Out of Iraq!"

Excess...

Unfortunately, the society in which we live promotes and encourages extreme excess, and, we eagerly attempt to keep up even to our own demise. Material “wealth” means more to our society than financial security. Bankruptcies and foreclosures are at an all-time high. The relaxation of our morals has led to an increase in the promotion of promiscuity over modesty. We constantly hear about the sexual misconduct of others. With society’s promotion of extreme material excess (Hummer’s, homes beyond our means, etc), public tolerance of sexual perversions and alcoholism (I think we’ve become accepting of the entry into rehab as a form of public apology, and forgotten the punishment part), and the inability of many of us to moderate our consumption of food we are all rapidly spiraling downward. These excesses certainly contribute to the injustices of society such as theft as an effort to neutralize the differences in material wealth, alcoholism and the way it adversely impacts others, sexual perversions with some of our most precious being victimized as well as our own inabilities to see our addiction to food as a health problem for an entire society.

I am trying to have my family understand that we don’t need all this excess. When asked what I want for Christmas, I tell my family to donate to a charity in my name (humane society, JDRF). I get the response, no really, what do you want? When I read all the problems that are facing America now, they all seem to follow the same premise – we, as Americans, have too much. But the people that have too much agree, but they still want more.

I live in a modest house that some would consider a “fixer-upper”, but it is home. I live in no more than 1800 sq feet of living space with my partner, my baby (with plans of another one), three dogs and one cat, but is it enough. I think so. I also think that it may be too much. I wanted the two-story house with four bedrooms and two and a half baths and acreage. Why is this important? It’s important because our society says this is what you need to be happy. Marketing also says to be the person everyone else is you need own more. For no other reason than America is the land of abundance.

Everyday I am bombarded with ways to make my teeth whiter, make myself skinnier, earn $12,000 (or more) a month by working at home, re-mortgage my house to pay off my credit card debt, but I am also pre-approved for this card or that. We are nothing but lemmings in the “Luxurious” world. Our society is set up for us to fail, but we continue to want more. After the attacks of 9/11, did Bush ask us to mourn, to grieve, to take time and remember that we are one in this terrible tragedy. No he asked everyone to go shopping. The gap between the rich and poor is growing more and more each day. Right now 40% of the world’s wealth is owned by only 1% of the population. We want what they have. We want to be rich. Excess is the American way of life and no matter how much I hate it, I am still a part of it.