Military spending gone wild!

I'm concerned we are on the same path the USSR followed when they got bogged down in Afghanastan. The U.S. military budget for 2009 is $623 Billion and rest of the world combined military budget is $500 Billion. China spends $60Billion and Russia $50Billion. Is it necessary to spend ten times the amount of our nearest rivals on a military budget when we are bleeding red at home due to our spending binge.

Is it necessary for us to have a world wide presence of our military? Can't we have a well trained and effecient military with many less personnel if we can get out of these awful wars and direct our attention to better and more effective intelligence and cooperation with the other nations of the world. If some groups want to continue to direct their destructive efforts toward us we can surely have an elite strike force to take care of them without placing thousands of troups in harm's way.

I'm a great believer is quality over quantity.

Imagine what we could do with 50% of the money being spent on military.

Each day is a gift.

My son, Bo, reminded people who crossed his path during the last two years of his life "each day is a gift". He was faced with a certain deteriation of his body and death as he struggled with the terrible disease of Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease). ALS affects the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord resulting in degeneration of the muscles throughout the body. Facing certain death hightened Bo's appreciation of each day, no matter much he was deprived of the use of his body. In other words be thankful for every day and all of the things in your life that are good.

Thru the Busby Foundation formed to help families facing this terrrible disease I have met and gotten to know three men over the past couple of weeks who have reached the stage where they cannot use their legs and are dealing with breathing problems. They can't use their bathrooms in their home because they are not handicap equipped. They need help in building a handicap accessible bathroom. We want to help them.

I'm reminded that I don't have to deal with these limitations, but can take a shower without difficulty. I can use the bathroom. Yet these men cannot and the quality of their lives are affected beyond dealing with the disease.

So my problems pale in comparison with the issues these men are facing. I'm reminded, as my son reminded me and others, each day is a gift. I'm privileged we can help these men in the name of my son thru our foundation created by friends, family and business associates.

Post Bush

It is the day after the presidential inauguration. I'm trying to grasp what I saw and heard yesterday in Washington D.C. What an amazing site. People of all colors, sizes, and ages came together to celebrate and witness a watershed event in our country's history.

Unity was the general theme. Moving forward together was the message along with assurances that this is a new day and a new way of governing; reaching out to everyone to join in this journey.

Today I saw President Obama sign an executive order to make the government transparent. No more hiding in secret places.

I'm optimistic we are on the right path and the bickering and bitter politics are behind us.

A call to service may be the most important challenge that stands the best chance of changing the political landscape. I also sense the youth will be inspired to become involved in community service.

Will this solve the financial problems we face? No, but attitude is a large part of our problem. When we finally change our attitude to one of optimism things will begin to change. The media could help by taking news that is positive and giving it the attention rather than the doom and gloom usually the primary focus.

In a year we should see positive changes if we continue to work together. Patience is the key. Oh how I hate practicing patience. Like everyone else in our microwave world I want results now, but that just will not happen.

Reflection on a New Era

Electricity is in the air. Excitement is seen on faces of all colors, shapes and ages. Everyone awaits a great moment in our country's history; the inauguration of a president who represents the blend of America and the hope of our country and the world.

The focus of the country and world is on Washington; out with the old and in with the new. How long will our country patiently wait? How long will the other party wait before they begin an assault on the actions of the new presidency?

This reminds me of the atmosphere after 9/11 for unity and healing. Can that be sustained for long? It seems to me as long as Obama continues to reach out to people regardless of party lines and as long as he understands that healing can only occur after forgiveness; looking ahead and not at the past except for historical reasons, there is a good chance this atmosphere can last.

When America works together amazing things can be accomplished. We have the opportunity to forge new ideals by creating energy independence, breakthroughs in medical science, and new concepts in communication.

I'm excited and continue to be inspired by the prospects of a bright future and an erasing of color lines. What a great time to be alive.

We must remember that out of disaster comes new and wonderful things. Old things must die for new things to be born. That is just the way God created this world. Let's get involved and become a part of this new birth.

We've Come a Long Way Baby!

I'm listening to the confirmation hearings of Eric Holder. Listened to Hillary Clinton's hearings earlier this week. Next week Barak Obama will be sworn in as president. How amazing are these times?

On the one-hand we see the fear of our citizens about their financial health, just having passed from the era of fear for our personal safety, and we are about to embark on the era of hope and healing. Can this last?

Fear, whether real or imagined, is a griping emotion. It is also a well known tool used by politicians to create a result they are seeking.

I am optomistic we will come thru this period of difficulty stronger. We'll understand the hazards of operating beyond our means and on borrowed money; we'll understand the dangers of giving full authority to politicians that goes without careful questioning; we'll understand the dangers of pre-emptive military strikes without world support.

I'm hopeful the new president will make the tough calls needed to get this country back on track; trimming the budget, strategic tax reforms, zero budgeting, a workable energy and enviromental plan, and above all to maintain integrity in our government.

Working together we can accomplish anything.

From the Ashes

Last week on Oprah the show was on Spirituality. One of the guests was a favorite of mine, Michael Beckwith, of the Agape church in L.A. Beckwith explained we are created to create and to create new things old things must die. When we are faced with a crisis in our life, our community, country or world we should not resist the crisis or dispair but realize for new things to be created and born old things must die.

I was struck by this notion and recall in my lifetime the number of times when faced with what I preceived as disaster when the crisis ceased new things appeared, usually much greater than the old and completly unexpected.

This view helps me face adversity with a calm and reflective state of mind rather than panic or depression I can expect good things will arise out of the ashes. The bleak state of affairs our nation faces at this time is a good example and a prime time for us to not panic but rather to grow from this experience.

So my goal is to count my blessings: each day to identify the things in my life I can be thankful for and not to focus on the negatives. This is practicing the Law of Attraction: "What you focus on is what you will receive". If I focus on the good things in my life, i.e. family, friends, health, warm water for a shower, food, a comfortable home, a great church family, and a loving dog, then I don't have time to dwell on the fact my business is suffering from the down economy, infact, I'm motivated to do things differently with a positive outlook.

So take a deep breath, give thanks for the things we have in our life that are good, reach out to friends and family and make some smile each day.

Is Tweeter a tool or an obsession to accumulate?

Like so many people I know, I have been experimenting with Tweeter over the past few weeks in an effort to access it's value to me.

At first I found it a new and exciting tool that allowed me to connect with people throughout the world. I then began reading the tweets to see what value I gained from them and examine ways I might interact and provide value. The traffic is essentially broken into the following categories: thank you for following me; what I'm doing now; what I just finished doing; helpful hints on tweetering; promotion of services; idle conversation with specific followers; and reference to websites and blogs. About one-half the categories seem to be of any benefit to me, however, those categories make up about 20% of the traffic.

I have been able to learn of some helpful websites and potential marketing ideas.

I'll continue this adventure for a while, but it seems many tweeters are simply trying to see if they can accumulate the most followers---a game. Although I'm sure that provides them with a sense of accomplishment, I fail to see the value.

I'm all about learning new things, so that part is fun. I'll give an update in 30 days on its value.

Christians and war

Brian McLaren, a christian author, stated in his book, "Everything Must Change": "Churchgoers in the United States often seem to be the first to support and the last to abandon wars of questionable morality."

Why is that? Shouldn't people of faith be the first to caution and resist war? Why do we hear almost no outcry from churches; actually the Christian leaders supported the war publicly.
Were they afraid they would be labeled as not being patriotic?

It seems to me we could create a world of peace if we spent the time and money for peace that we do for war. Our military budget dwarfs that of all other countries, including China and Russia. Imagine the poverty and disease we could eliminate if we directed significant amounts of monies to fight those battles instead of war. The cost of the war in Iraq could have made a significant impact on disease and poverty throughout the world.

Dwight Eisenhower said: "It happens that defense is a field in which I have had varied experience over a lifetime, and if I have learned anything, it is that there is no way in which a country can satisfy the craving for absolute security---but it can easily bankrupt itself, morally and economically, in attempting to reach that illusory goal through arms alone."

It is my fervent prayer that President Elect Obama understands this and will use a scaphel to the military budget and the citizens of this country let it be known that war and ramping up for war is a waste of great resources; plus we cannot afford the costs any longer.

PS

I wanted to follow up my last blog with an additional thought. The United States killing of innocent men, women and children because some relegious radicals decided to attack the U.S. is criminal. Assume for a moment the shoe was on the other foot, i.e. we had a dozen or so radicals who decided to attack China or Russia and that country retaliated by sending bombs and rockets into our cities killing innocent citizens. Can this be the thinking of rational people or is it the thinking of power hungry people who think because of who they are and the positions they hold they can do no wrong.

Can we ever heal the wounds of all of the innocent people who have been forever scarred by this horrific decision? Shouldn't the men and women who made these decisions be help accountable?

When we combine these horrific acts with the thousands of military men and women who were killed and wounded carrying out these acts so Karl Rove, Dick Cheney, George Bush, Donald Rumsfield, Condi Rice and their many minions could expand their power it should make us all so angry that we vow to never allow it to happen again. How do we prevent it? We hold all of those in Congress accountable who stood by with their fingers in their ears and claimed they were duped by the intelligence, yet they did not ask the hard questions, in fact, some asked no questions. They took the easy route hidding behind the skirt of Condi Rice and the inept intelligence community. Would you or I be allowed to walk away unscathed if we had acted with such malfeasence?

We should hope Obama will keep his word to allow those he has assembled around him to ask the hard questions; he will use diplomacy and work to repair our relationship with other countries, and govern from the strength of diplomacy and leadership rather than the position of strength.

Bill Moyers Journal

Bill Moyers has two YouTube segments on the issue of the war as seen from our soldier's point of view and the killing of innocent people in war. "Middle East Violence" and "The War as we Saw It".

Thank God for people like Bill Moyers who will tell the truth while the media falls all over itself talking about Senate appointments and Governors who are at the center of a federal investigation.

The flag drapped caskets continue to be hidden from the public to attempt to keep our mind off of the cost of war.

The Bush View

It amazes me how one can look at their history with such rose colored glasses. The one positive claim made is there have been no attacks on American soil since 9/11. Duh! Why should our adversaries need to attack us on our soil when we have sent our men and women to them for slaughter?

When you combine attack of Iraq without the support of our historical allies under the guise there was compelling evidence of weapons of mass destruction, our gross atrocities at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo and the cowboy attitude of our leaders we managed to create an entire generation of bitter enemies. Had we finished our work in Afghanistan and spent a fraction of the resources on rebuilding that country and providing them with a taste of freedom and democracy we would have retained our reputation and established a strong ally in the mid-West.

The prevailing view of the Bushes is to have victory in Iraq, yet they are vague about what that means. We had "victory" when the Saddam regime was toppled. Is victory to eliminate all violence? If so, that can only be accomplished thru diplomacy. We can look at Israel and the Palestinians to know that is true.

This conflict may be our ultimate undoing. We can reflect back to the result of Russia's ill-fated attack of Afghanistan and the quagmire they were caught in the was a major contributor to their demise.

Let's bring our European friends as well as the Middle East countries to the table, including Iran and Syria, and work out a plan and resolution. Every moment we waste and every drop of American blood shed is unacceptable.

It's a do over.

2009 starts off with a wimper. The bowl games, for the most part, were boring. I miss the big bowls being all day on New Year's Day. We have three bowls yet to be played and it is January 5. No one seems to be moving about. We seem to be on hold. We are awaiting our new president to be sworn in before any meaningful work can begin with our government.

I'm not motivated to charge ahead. Why? Is it the dreary weather, cedar fever, lack of focus, or a sense of dispair?

Last week I decided, after a friend told me I should investigate Tweeter, to delve into the Tweeter World and see what it is about. I was amazed and stimulated. Maybe Tweetering will be my push toward creativeness for the new year.

My work depends largely on two things: people and money. People seem to be very hesitant to step out into a large venture because of the uncertainity of the future. Money is not readily available due to the squeezing of the financial markets. So I must learn to be patient, but vigilant.

Oh, but patience is not easy and I don't do well when I have to practice it. I see a great opportunity for a New Year's resolution, i.e. be patient.