Tag: #amblogging

Posted in Non-fiction, Travel

Update on Whales: Prisoners for Entertainment

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

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A few months ago, I wrote a blog post on orca whales, who are actually dolphins, and the problems they face in captivity, and Tilikum, the whale featured in the movie Blackfish. Blackfish is the movie that publicized the plight of the orca whales that are kept in captivity. The movie finally forced entertainment facilities like Sea World to stop using the orcas for entertainment purposes. They also stopped breeding them in captivity.

Tilikum recently passed away at the age of 36. He died from a persistent bacterial lung infection. Tilikum finally became aggressive in captivity and, in 2010, he killed a trainer at Sea World. He was implicated in the deaths of two others. There was actually sympathy for Tilikum because the stress of his captivity was seen as the major factor in his behavior. There have been reports of oracas trying to commit suicide in captivity as reported in the above-mentioned blog post.

After Tilikum died, the President of the Humane Society, was quoted as saying that his death meant the end of the orca captivity program. We can only hope. A much better alternative for us is to take whale-watching tours a few miles out into the ocean. RIP Tilikum

Posted in #weekendcoffeeshare

#weekendcoffeeshare – 01/08/2017

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

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“Hello, Jenn! Come in quickly! It’s so terribly cold!” Jenn is joining me today for our #weekendcoffeeshare. It’s only 6F degrees this morning and I can hardly believe anyone at all will get out and trek to my house for coffee and tea!

“My car doors were almost frozen shut,” Jenn said, “but I was able to get them open. I don’t think this kind of cold is supposed to last very long.”

Where Jenn and I live, in the Ohio Valley in Kentucky, this kind of cold in winter is not particularly common. We usually have some of it but not a lot.

Jenn and I went about the business of preparing a limited coffee bar as we didn’t expect many people this morning. We set up a couple of kinds of coffee and tea, including a wonderful Indian Chai tea I had happened to find, hot chocolate, and some fine apple cider I had heating on the stove. I was gratified that some people did come by and just hoped they weren’t frostbitten. We all convened in my writing studio with our hot beverages. Most seemed interested in the hot cider this cold morning.

One person spoke up about her heat going off during the night. She is staying elsewhere until the HVAC people show up and is terribly worried about her pipes freezing, with good reason. Another person said his car wouldn’t start and caught a ride with someone else. All the problems associated with bitterly cold weather. Some of the reasons I have such a fervent desire to move to a warmer climate. I truly dread leaving my friends and what little family I have left here, but the benefits of moving are starting to outweigh the costs for me.

I’m going to have at least two realtors take a look at my house and give me their opinion on a selling price as that will determine whether I can move or not. I hope I have time to accomplish that reasonably soon. I will also look at homes in my desired destination as, of course, real estate prices there play another role. If I can move, it will be almost 1000 miles away, so it is a big move and I have to be sure. It’s a move I feel I need to make if I can get it to financially make sense. Given the political situation in the U.S., things are changing, including interest rates, so many factors have to be considered. My house was renovated last year. That is another consideration. Lots to think about!

On top of the cold weather, we had a big snow yesterday and, on the mountain where I live, we got more snow than in the valley below. Several inches. I detest snow and cold which means for four months or so each year, I’m miserable. Not a good thing, particularly at this time in my life. I guess the good news is that I get a lot of writing done! Writers need experiences, however, and I would certainly have the opportunity for more experiences if I moved. I hope there are many novels to write in my future.

I hope all of you have recovered from your holiday celebrations and that you really enjoyed the holidays with your families and friends! Now I hope you’re getting back to the business of being normal without too much adjustment.

That’s about it for today’s #weekendcoffeeshare. I have to get busy here as I have lots to do. I appreciate your stopping by. See you next week!

 

 

Posted in Non-fiction

Can our Democracy Last?

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

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John Adams, one of our founders feared that it could not when he said, “Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.” Of course, that was a long time ago and they were just in the process of building America, our great shining city on the hill.

We are not a true democracy but a representational democracy. If we were a true or pure democracy, all laws would be made by direct, popular vote. Some of our laws are made like this. Most are not with a good example being the electoral college.

Our founders actually seemed to prefer a republic to a democracy. They are identical in every aspect except one. In a democracy, power is held by the group. In a republic, power is held by every individual. Most think the United States is a mixture of the two forms of government.

The ancient Greeks, in the 4th and 5th centuries BCE, formed an amazing democracy for a time. Ancient Athens gave its citizens equal political rights regardless of descent, social standing, wealth, and other factors, though women could not be involved. The democracy devolved into an oligarchy after a defeat in war. An oligarchy is a government ruled by a small group of people, sometimes private citizens, who exert an inordinate influence on the government. Sound familiar? Athens did influence forms of government for two millennia.

Athens is just one example of a democracy devolving into a more tyrannical type of government. The Roman Empire was a republic upon which the U.S. government was partially based. It, too, ended due to a number of factors. The Roman Empire found itself in a severe financial crisis. The causes were years of war and overspending and high taxes along with inflation caused a widening gap between the rich and poor. The economy started to decline. The Roman Empire lasted much longer than the average of 200 years.

Other examples of the failure of democracies and republics exist. The characteristics of the demise all seem to be similar. Greed, power, money, and a concentration of power at the top lead to the fall of such forms of government. What about the United States of America? Is it too late for us to reverse the course of history?

What do you think?

Posted in Flash Fiction

Time is a Wheel

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

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“Harry, please don’t play underneath the house. It’s dangerous,” said Harry’s mother when she found her nine-year old son leaning on the old wheel under the house.

“But, Mom, said Harry, “I have to see what the wheel says.”

“What are you talking about?” Harry’s mom is distracted because she is studying for her final exam in her graduate program.

“Mom, that’s the Wheel of Time. It spins it in one direction and shows scenes from the past. The other, scenes of the future.” Harry’s mother thought he was playing make-believe.

Then she heard the wheel turn – by itself.

99 words

Photo Credit: Sandra Crook

Posted in Blog Series

#2: Baby Boomers: Our Unhealthy Eating Habits

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

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Sometimes, in the United States, I think the food industry is out to kill us. Scratch that. Not sometimes. All the time. Then again, I suppose they feed the people what the people want, what the people will buy, which is an even sadder statement on the American diet. This is one of many things the baby boom generation does wrong if it wants to keep itself young. We don’t eat right.

Here are a few interesting facts and figures. We eat around 2,775 calories per day. Only 205 of those calories are fruits and vegetables. About 600 of those calories are in a category called “added fats and oils.” Those are not found naturally in our food products. They are what is added to processed foods like crackers and other off-the-shelf products. Bread and other grain products, like rice and corn, are around 610 calories. We have increased our grain consumption 45% since 2000.

The lack of consumption of vegetables, particularly, and fruit has depleted our essential nutrients, compromised our immune systems, caused us to gain weight, and inhibited our digestion. Only 22% of adults report eating vegetables daily. In all but three states, the average servings of vegetables were less than 1.7 per day.

The wheat we eat today does not contain the minerals it once did. It is not as nutritious as it used to be which has led to a plethora of health problems including gluten intolerance, magnesium deficiency, and lack of absorption of calcium and zinc, among others.

The fats and oils category indicates that we have decreased our use of saturated fats but increased our use of hydrogenated fats and oils. We were told for years that saturated fats were bad for us. While we still should limit our intake, they are far healthier than hydrogenated fats. Eat real butter instead of margarine. Use olive oil on your salads. Instead of canola oil or sunflower, peanut or corn oil, use coconut oil to cook with.

Then there is salt. We average 3,400 mg per day. Twice the daily recommended amount and seven times more than our body needs. No wonder so many people have to take high blood pressure medication. Too much sodium may lead to stroke and heart attacks.

Maybe the worst statistic of all is this one. Of that 2,775 calories per day that we average, 25% comes from animal products, 12% from plant products, and a whopping 63% from processed food, sugars, hydrogenated fats, and oils.

We wonder why insurance costs and prescription drug costs are high. #amwriting #writing #blogging #HealthyLiving