Willpower

The Family in a Turkish Village is inspired by the work of Greg Hawthorn. It speaks to me of the energy it takes to join together physical, mental and spiritual parts of one’s being.
Acrylic on Canvas, 24” by 48”, Gold Frame, $ 690.00.

Bulking the Brain

Body, mind, and spirit are part of a health mantra chanted from coast that says, eat right, stay engaged, lower cholesterol, exercise, be mindful, and nourish your spirit. Be generous to body and find energy to meet daily challenges. Be generous to mind to improve mental and emotional heath, lower stress, and develop calmness. And, be generous to spirit to achieve a well lived life. . . one that has meaning.

This advice makes sense to most people, so why don’t they follow it? It is not difficult to dedicate 20 minutes a day to meditate as does my sister-in law, a most beautiful, composed woman who deals with trauma on a daily basis. Mindfulness enables her to answer a crisis hot line, one of the most stressful volunteer jobs.

Most of my friends exercise regularly, eat well and watch their sugar intake. After all, we live in the land of Nike, were raised with “Just do it,” and can afford to go to health clubs. So it surprised me when I read that Oregonians live in one of the most obese states in the nation. We are at the high end of the national
average where 40.2 percent of adults (40-59), 37 percent of those over 60, and 32.2 percent of younger adults are obese. I learned that among white men, those with higher incomes are more likely to be obese while the reverse is true among women. Though education does not seem to affect obesity in men it does in women where the better educated are less likely to be heavy than their less educated sisters.

Telling people to “Just do it” obviously does not work. Look at the map assembled by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention showing the prevalence of self-reported obesity among adults throughout our country.

After seeing this map I realized that changing health habits requires willpower and I was not sure where one finds it.

There are many studies that show the benefits that come from resisting temptation and having self-control. The first experiment in the U.S. was conducted in 1960 by Walter Mischel who recognized his smoking addiction and wondered what it would take to get over it. He offered four year olds the choice of a marshmallow that they could have immediately, or two if they could wait for 15 minutes. The treats were always visible and the child was told that she or he could ring a bell to call the experimenter back to end the torturous wait. Mischel tracked their performance into adulthood and found that those who could resist temptation had greater academic success, better health, and lower rates of marital separation. Even knowing this outcome, Mischel could not stop smoking. It wasn’t until he saw a man with lung cancer that he realized he was fooling himself. From then on, each time he reached for a cigarette he would create a picture in his mind of the sick man which helped change his craving.

Psychologist Denise Cummins says that willpower is like a muscle that gets stronger when exercised. “Use it or lose it” is her advice. People rarely want to change, yet to have a happy, successful life, willpower and self-control are essential. It is neither fun nor comfortable to change patterns for it necessitates breaking bad habits. It may mean establishing new relationships with friends and family. Beer buddies or coffee klatch friends may be difficult to be around if they don’t share your desire to lose weight and not to drink excessively.

Those who see that love ones to need to change, are almost always ineffective in getting them to do so. To make a lifestyle change, the person has to decide to please him or herself rather than someone else.

Developing willpower is an internal, conscious decision that has to be approached with caution. . . and that means not to overdoing it. When practicing a new life pattern, don’t berate yourself if there are times when you don’t follow through. Willpower grows over time and needs occasional recovery periods in-between.

The task, however, is a creative one that takes imagination. There are tricks that can be employed to help. Mindfulness can be useful to help divert craving and constantly thinking about the addiction. Imaging games such as the one used by Mischel to stop smoking are helpful. Imagining what you will eat after watching a movie or cleaning a closet also works. Studies have shown that those who delay gratification are in more control when they finally do eat or drink.

It does take practice to develop visualization and mindfulness skills. Meditation helps calm the brain but turning away from the desired object is faster and also works. It makes sense for an alcoholic to avoid going into a bar or an obese person from visiting an all-you-can-eat restaurant. On a recent cruise to the Caribbean, I watched grossly overweight people returning from a buffet with two full plates of food, baskets of bread and piled high desert plates and wondered if they really were prepared to gain 5 or more pounds on their vacation. If not, they might have been better off avoiding temptation by being served from a menu with more limited choices and serving portions.

Stress depletes willpower, while exercise, meditation, and knowledge are power tools to use to gain it. Whenever I interviewed new employees I asked them what they did when they were stressed at work. Everyone had an answer to my query. They knew what helped them get through difficult times and easily shared their stories. What I discovered, was that they often forgot to call on their inner resources when needed. Whether it is visualization, listening to music, or as I do, taking a ride in my car, it is important to take the time to go to your secret place rather than feed your addiction.

Acquiring willpower can actually be fun, though it is easy to wonder how can weight loss or exercise be enjoyable when the thought of it is painful. The practice becomes easier if pre-planning is done. For instance, attending cooking classes where healthy ingredients are used provides an enjoyable, social activity. Establishing a routine with friends to walk, jog, or exercise is a way to make time whizz by. Setting a schedule for meditation, not only builds brain-power, but lowers blood pressure, and improves focus, all outcomes that feel good.. My own experience as a meditator is simply that it makes me feel relaxed and leaves me with renewed energy.

Problems are a never ending part of human existence that brings excitement into life. If there are many, I am busy working to solve them but notice that when there are few, I get bored and will go out of my way to find a new challenge. How problems are approached and overcome is what makes each life special. Growth occurs to those willing to step on a path that engages them in healthy activities. It is a road that leads to weight reduction, improved stamina, and relaxation. The walk becomes increasingly enjoyable as posture improves, pounds are shed, self-esteem improves, and new clothes are worn with pride. Smiles and sensitivity to others spread as problems are put in their place and dealt with as entertaining challenges.

Sounds pretty good doesn’t it? After gaining weight this winter I think I’ll get me some willpower and self-control.

References:
Overweight and Obesity, Center for Disease Control and Prevention,2015, https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/prevalence-maps.html

Cummins,Denise, How to Boost Your Willpower, 2013, Psychology Today, https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/good-thinking/201306/how-boost-your-willpower

Konnikova, Maria, The Struggles of a Psychologist Sudying Self-Control, 2014, The New Yorker, http://www.newyorker.com/science/maria-konnikova/struggles-psychologist-studying-self-control

Haederle, Michael, How Mindfulness Can Build Your Brain, Life Reimagined, https://lifereimagined.aarp.org/stories/29441-How-Mindfulness-Can-Build-Your-Brain

Genetic Advantage

Malheur Sunset
The Swallows resting in the tree are considered to be genetically distinct. In evoloutionary terms, they have been evolving for 500,000 to 1 million years. Homo Sapiens are only at the beginning of their genetic journey.

Genetic Advantage
Thousands of people gathered recently in downtown Portland, Oregon representing both the right and left side of the political divide. In general, tempers were civil, though the crowd was on edge and there were moments of disruption. Several religious groups in the pro-Trump camp had posters with slogans proclaiming their adversity to racial mixing. They carried signs that said, “Diversity is Death for White Race.” I decided to do a bit of exploring and find out if there was merit to their claim. I wanted to know if there are there genetic advantages to having a mixed race species and if there was such a thing as a pure race?

According to a UK documentary about the subject, the uncontroversial answer is that mixed species are stronger than monocultures. The program claimed that if Hitler had had his way by genetically designing a purebred Aryan race, the results would not have been superior. The reverse would most likely have occurred, with a weaker biological stock emerging.

For more than a century, biologists have known that mixing diverse strains of plant or animal results in more vigorous offspring. An unrelated partner from a different stock or population can produce what scientists call, Hybrid Vigor? They identify situations where interbreeding in a particularly small community is common. The offspring tend to be unfit with a tendency to die young.

Human beings have 23 pairs of Chromosomes carrying about 30,000 genes. Every once in a while a gene may be bad or broken even though it will not cause a problem in the host organism. However, If two broken genes combine during procreation, they create an unhealthy situation for the descendent. Hybrid Vigor, the result of breeding occurring between unrelated people, avoids the problem of having two broken copies of the same gene likely to meet. 
 It is somewhat difficult to measure the effect of interbreeding because environmental effects are also play a role in the human condition. Being killed in a car accident or having damaged lungs because of smoking overrides the benefits that may occur from selecting a biologically strong mate. Though not a scientific claim, it is interesting to note that in the United Kingdom, mixed race people make up only 3% of the population, yet make up t30% of soccer players. Brazil, with a very mixed race population, has won the World Cup more than any other country.

In America, laws forbidding marriage between people of different races were common until the middle of the 20th century. Writers like Madison Grant, a leading eugenicist, warned that racial mixing was “a social and racial crime” that would lead toward “racial suicide” and the eventual disappearance of white civilization. For instance, he said that the cross between higher (white) racial types with Indians will produce Indians and with Negroes, will produce a Negro child, both unhealthy outcomes. Grant called for purity of blood inheritance. His writings, among others, led to 16 states developing legislation such as Virginia’s Racial Integrity Act . It spurred the growth of Anglo Saxon Clubs and the Ku Klux Klan. Virginia’s original law stated that a person was not white if he or she had 1/64 of Native Ancestry. Interestingly, 16 members of the Virginia General Assembly proudly claimed to be descendants of Pocahontas and objected to the law that was eventually passed. It wasn’t until 1967 that the Supreme Court struck down the Racial Integrity Act and 15 similar ones in other states.

According to a 2017 Pew Research Center report, 1 out of 10 married people in the U.S. has a spouse of a different race or ethnicity. Part of this accelerating condition is due to mass immigration which is making Americans more tolerant toward interracial marriage. Among women, Asians are the most likely to marry someone of a different race while among men, Hispanic and Black men are the most likely to intermarry.

However, there is a growing group of White Americans opposed to the trend to racial mixing. Those expressing their resistance to interracial marriage are most strong in rural areas. I was surprised to learn that 51 percent of Democrats and 72 percent of Republicans do not think intermarriage is good.

Despite negative feelings, the future of society is likely to lead to mixing races as it always has done in the past. In my last blog I mentioned the results of genome testing done with millions of people show that most Homo Sapiens have small traces of Neanderthal their DNA. What has changed from those prehistoric days to now is the speed in which racial mixing occurs. The structure of the human gene pool is dynamically affected by globalization and migration. I am reminded of lessons learned from Darwin’s Survival of the Species, that natural selection requires diversity and that those best suited to their environment will be the best candidates to pass their genes on to the next generation.

Today many of us live in environments that are not biologically well-suited for natural selection. Heating and cooling systems, contemporary agricultural practices and extensive transportation systems make that possible. Movement by mass populations has the advantage of blending genes, providing an opportunity for good traits to make their way into other populations. For example, in Tibet where high altitude creates low oxygen levels Tibetans are well adapted to their environment, but the Han Chinese and Serpas who moved to the area when China occupied the country in were not. When the races started to mix, the beneficial genes of the Tibetans helped the next generation of newcomers become better adapted to the thin air.

When examining dogs to identify genetic disorders, purebreds are found more likely to suffer weaknesses than those of a mixed-breed because same-breed mating can cause unhealthy recessive genes to become dominant. The human condition acts similarly. Studies of Middle Eastern and North African marriages among close relatives show that their children are more likely to have birth defects or genetic disorders than those living in racially mixed countries.

Geneticists explain that we are not as diverse as you might think. New York Times reporter, Natalie Angier, wrote, “Scientists say that while it may be easy to tell at a glance whether a person is Asian, African or Caucasian, the differences dissolve when one looks beyond surface features and scans the human genome for DNA hallmarks of race.” Race is a social construct, not a biological one and accounts for less than .01 of variations in genetic makeup.

It was interesting to learn of the recent discovery in Morocco identifying the skeletons of 300,000 year old Homo Sapiens. However, it was much later that our early ancestors left the content to travel north. “All of us evolved over the last 100,000 years from the same small number of tribes that migrated out of Africa and colonized the world,” says Dr. Craig Venter, head of Celera Genomics Corporation. He, along with others from the National Institutes of Health declare that there is only one race—the human race. There have only been 7,000 generations since the 10,000 or so people who left Africa started migrating north to mix at times with archaic humans. (such as Neanderthals and Homo Erectus). This is not enough time to produce variations of any significance.

The differences in how we are packaged, the visual cues of color, are minuscule when studying the human genome. There is little scientific evidence to support substantial distinctions between groups. Yes, there are genes that control pigmentation and other physical features but the are mostly “skin deep.” Slight variations are caused by the pressure of the environment to carry a certain genes to protect skin against the burning sun. Occasionally an isolated group develops a genetic predisposition due to one ancestor being born with an unusual mutation.

Over time, species either adapt of become extinct. Evolution can not be stopped and as the environment changes so will the need accelerate human adaptations. As sea levels continue to rise, populations will be forced to move and continue to reshape the structure of the gene pool However, it will take hundreds of thousands of generations living in changed and isolated environments before human beings will divide into genetically different groups. You and I will never live to see these differences so I say, let’s stop the racial biases and come together based on our similarities.

References:

Controversial, but True? mixed Race Humans have a Genetic Advantage, 2010,
http://www.ign.com/boards/threads/controversial-but-true-mixed-race-humans-have-a-genetic-advantage.192331120/

Lombardo, Paul, Eugenic Laws Against Race Mixing,University of Virginia, http://www.eugenicsarchive.org/html/eugenics/essay7text.html

Rosetti, Chris, National Vanguard, 2017, Pew Study:Vast Majority of Whites are Resisting Racial Mixing, http://nationalvanguard.org/2017/05/pew-study-vast-majority-of-whites-are-resisting-racial-mixing/

Slomon, Scott, from Future Humans: inside the Science of our Continuing Evolution, 2016, https://aeon.co/essays/the-future-is-mixed-race-and-thats-a-good-thing-for-humanity

Angier, Natalie, Do races Differ? Not really, DNA Shows. The New York Times, 2000
https://partners.nytimes.com/library/national/science/082200sci-genetics-race.html

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The New Biology

Indian Princess
Surrounded by molecules and artifacts that represent her genetic past and complex ancestry, the Indian Princess wears a nurses cape as she brings flowers to her next patient.

acrylic on Canvas, 19” x 23”, $ 475.

My partner, Ray, was curious about his distant ancestors and decided that the best way to learn about his origins to have his DNA analyzed. The test involved swabbing his mouth four times with a Q tip before placing the samples in individual containers and mailing them off to a genetics lab. It was that easy.

We found his findings fascinating, for he discovered that after leaving Africa over 100,000 years ago, one branch of ancestors traveled west and spent 5,000 years on the Iberian Peninsula. Results from another strain was more surprising for these ancestors made their way east, through Asia to Oceana, before crossing the Pacific to the new world. Rather than coming over the Bearing Straight land bridge, his relatives might have been among those who settled on somewhere on the western coast, 13, 000 to 14,000 years ago, prior to the arrival of Northeast Asia’s Mongoloid population.

Ray’s discoveries made me curious about my own heritage so I joined the thousands of people participating in the National Geographic’s Genome Study. Unfortunately, at the time, I did not realize that since I am a female with two X chromosomes I only could follow the female part of my lineage. More information would have been provided if my brother was tested with his X and Y mixture, instead of me. But, what I learned was still interesting. When my female line exited Jordan the intermingled with Neanderthals. I learned that 35,000 and 45,000 years ago marked the disappearance of the Neanderthals, yet there is a great deal of evidence that they did interbreed with Homo Sapiens before spreading throughout Europe. Scientists now believe that all non-Africans alive today have a genetic trace of Neanderthal ancestry. Perhaps this genetic mixture helped make me strong. As DNA researchers learn more, they will be able to complete the story of modern human evolution.

National Geographic results are only able to follow genetic markers to about 5000 years ago. Over time, my ancestors did migrate north towards what is now Germany, but more contemporary ancestry searches told of members of my family moving through England, Austria, and Latvia to cross the Atlantic Ocean in the early 20th century.

Biology has certainly evolved since I went to school and studied Mendel’s accounting of the genetics of peas. Mapping the human genome has not only produced information about how we evolved as humans beings but has brought about an explosion of excitement and possibility for future developments in medicine, agriculture sand beyond. We have begun to understand how lifestyle can shape our destiny as scientists learn more about he interaction between genetics, the environment and epigenetics. Moving beyond DNA, to other modifying factors involving cell cycles and molecules makes researchers optimistic about being able to treat and reverse diseases like cancer and autoimmune diseases such as diabetes. Clinical trials are currently underway that use gene therapy to re-engineering the body so it can recognize and attack destructive tissues. As of 2015 more than 1,800 disease genes have been identified with 350 biotechnology-based products released onto the market.

These new therapies have not been easily accepted. They have also spawned political and moral debates about whether the medical profession is altering the course of national selection and human evolution by trying to influence longevity. Others who welcome genetic science’s forward momentum have concerns about administering treatments that have not been thoroughly tested. There are those who are concerned that approvals come too quickly, while others facing imminent death, find the vetting process incredibly slow. And then, there are side effects. For some patients find that the cure is worse than the disease. The FDA has a difficult job of balancing possible benefits of early approvals with the build up of toxicity that occurs in many patients.

A more social concern is deciding how personal genetic information will be used and if individual privacy will be affected. Fears that insurance companies will raise rates and employers will not hire those with a genetic propensity for certain diseases are not unfounded. Many Americans recall Hitler’s dream of creating an race of supermen and find the notion of playing around with human genetics dangerous. Should parents be permitted to choose the color of their child’s hair or eyes, decide on sexual characteristics, or abort a mongoloid child? The more religious among us fear that we are altering God’s will while others believe that we are simply making the human race stronger and more disease resistant. They imagine a world where human beings can live to the ripe age of 150 years and beyond as good.

I have my own worries, for I wonder how the earth earth will be able to support a larger population before self-destructing if life expectancy is increased. There are those who have an answer for every concern. Gene mapping is used in agriculture to design crops that are insect and drought resistant, bringing hope that millions of people can be fed who would otherwise go hungry. Genetically Modified Foods, however, create their own brand of controversy. There is fear that GMO’s are still unpredictable, and that monoculture planted crops could be wiped our with a single organism. In the United States where the public remains wary of the health benefits of GMO, there is a move to have modified food labeled even though, according to Scientific American, most scientists believe that GMOs are safe to eat. The most comfortable decision would be to not alter nature, but in countries where hunger and insufficient food is a problem we have to ask ourselves if genetically altered food is a trade off that needs to be made.

As genetics and computer technologies continue to progress there will be amazing developments in the near future. One area already impacting society are the changes DNA analysis has brought to criminal justice. In earlier years, hundreds of innocent people were convicted of crimes they did not commit. With the advent of DNA mapping, those wrongfully imprisoned are now challenging earlier findings and proving their innocence through incontrovertible evidence. Of the 350 people who have been exonerated by the Innocence Project over the past 25 years, 20 had spent time on death row, two-thirds were African Americans, and 71% were sent to prison because of eyewitness misidentification. These poor souls spent an average of 14 years in prison, wasting their lives.

Other scenarios that are part of our future sound like they belong in a science-fiction novel. They include carrying identity cards with genome characteristics. and conducting laboratory analysis of physical based testing outside of traditional hospitals. Already, cloned organs, gene corrections, and obtaining early use of genetic information enables patients
to play an active role in their own health care.

With legal and ethical issues abounding as we look to the future, we are called on to develop protocols and regulation that makes sense. Yes, biology has certainly changed since I was in high school with much of our future being influenced by a new breed of biologists and geneticist.

References:

Lovgren, Stefan, National Geographic News, 2003, Who were the First Americans? http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/09/0903_030903_bajaskull.html

Grant, Bob, The Scientist, 2015,Neanderthal-Human Hybrid Unearthed / http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/43354/title/Neanderthal-Human-Hybrid-Unearthed/

Durmaz, Karaca, Demkow, Toruner, Schourmans, Cogulu, Evolution of Genetic Techniques:Past, Present, and Beyond, BioMe Research International, 2015 https://www.hindawi.com/journals/bmri/2015/461524/

Freedman, David, Scientific America, 2013, The Truth about Genetically Modified Food, https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-truth-about-genetically-modified-food/

The Forensic Science Technician website, 2017, http://www.forensicsciencetechnician.net/25-wrongly-convicted-felons-exonerated-by-new-forensic-evidence/

The Innocence Project website, 2017, https://www.innocenceproject.org/dna-exonerations-in-the-united-states/

Watching the Soaps

TV Diva
40”by 30”/ Acrylic on Canvas/ Gold Frame/ $ 499
Gossip is more entertaining than a truthful presentation of complex current events. It is easier to say, “oh my, oh my, how awful!” than “what should we do to make things better for all.”

Watching the Soaps
A friend recently mentioned that she has a difficult time staying away from the news. She admits to being addicted to minute by minute accountings of the latest outrages emanating from Washington and Wall Street. Her husband tells her that she is wasting her time. Even acknowledging that he may be right, that she does not need an hourly accounting to be informed, she can’t stay away from clicking on the news app.

“May you live in interesting times,” says the old Chinese curse. It took me many years before I understood why this was a negative comment rather than a wish for fun and adventure. Each day reports arrive with surprise horrors more shocking than those told the day before. How can anyone not want to follow the saga? It is the ultimate soap box story.

Media in its many forms, fill electronic highways with exciting programs never heard before. Up to date real time events mixed with talking head pundits and internet bloggers offer opinions that run the gamut from pending disasters to future elation. There are enough news outlets to accommodate everyone’s mood and preconceived biases.

To insure that their programs are entertaining and emotional, reporters focus on personalities more than they do issues, knowing that viewers rarely investigate what they are told. Unfortunately, the facts are difficult  to uncover and even when correctly presented, new information is often labeled as “false or alternative”  when it does not support previous understandings.

Because so many newscasters try to shock their audience rather than present difficult issues with proposed solutions, we remain utterly confused. The advice I was always given was to follow the money when seeking the truth. This search starts with the media itself.  High ratings are needed to satisfy advertisers who support networks and so newscasters entertain rather than present trustworthy news. The public  does not receive understandable information that promotes debate and consensus. Instead, we are set up with double talk that makes us spin in circles. It is difficult to know who and what to believe.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have all news sources present an accurate cost/benefit accounting comparing single payer, private insurance companies, and pay as you go health systems? In addition,  lets hear the truth about costs incurred and profits received by pharmaceutical companies so we can find out why drugs are so much more expensive in the U.S. than abroad. Armed with trustworthy information, a debate could occur that embraces economic and humanistic philosophies. A solution based on compromise might move successfully  forward. 

I was once a public appointee to the board of Michigan’s State Health Coordinating Council and I saw up close how vested interests work effectively against the common good. The financial interests of pharmaceutical companies, insurers, medical workers, hospitals, unions, and advertisers kept the common person in the dark and the group struggling to make rational decisions. I remember a union representative who did not want insurance premiums to include alcohol and drug addiction services even though they were known to reduce medical costs because his union wanted these services io be negotiated items in labor contracts. 

Each time a cost cutting decision was suggested, the losing organization, found ways of going against the group’s decision . For example, since expensive imaging devices in hospitals were not utilized at 100 percent capacity our committee recommended sharing equipment between facilities. When we turned down a hospital’s request for a new CAT machine, the hospital went around us and found a political decision to their liking.

There are vested interests on every side of every issue that need to be brought to the forefront. It is our right to know what they are.

The constant stream of chatter about political personalities would be laughable if serious consequences were not attached. When watching the soaps, if a sponge is left inside a body by an inebriated surgeon, it doesn’t really matter. The patient will rise once to walk away the scene is complete. Unfortunately, what happens in Washington does make a difference. I don’t enjoy feeling like a pawn caught in their drama.

Many news junkies tell me that there is little to be done but sit back in horror watching politicians lie, freedoms erode, the world become poisoned, our country lose respect, and the underclass of homeless, unemployable people expand. Foreign countries view us as a laughable, unpredictable, untrustworthy, manipulative nation that no longer travels the high road. The moral ground we used to dwell on has eroded.

“NOT SO!” say I. Many of us have strong ethical values and we do have a voice that can be heard. Let’s use the freedom our country offers to make things better.


1. Use your time wisely. Instead of being addicted to up to the minute happenings, do a bit of in depth research on the subject you are interested in. Get many points of view, not just those that reinforce your preconceived ideas and fears. Double check sources and find out who benefits by the way news is presented.

2. Call your legislators. They do response to their constituents. Many voices can change the way they vote.

3. News addicts can not afford to sit back and do nothing. The addiction is not healthy. It leads to fear, paralysis , and feelings of helplessness. It causes complaining and whining which does little more than make friends unhappy . I noticed that news addicts, tend to be wonderfully sensitive individuals. News addicts seem to be more agitated than those who put time and effort into their cause.

4. Select an issue and get more deeply involved. Are you concerned about the homeless, as I am? about the economy? the environment,? women’s issues,? wildlife? security? education? the unemployed and underemployed? Whatever your interest, join with others and work for your cause?

Food Habits

Food Habits
True Gold, (Sold)
If you were a bird you would probably not having anyone telling you that you are overeating. A medium sized bird like a Cooper’s Hawk eats 12 percent of its body weight. In human terms, a 150 pound person would eat18 pounds a day or about six extra-large pizzas. It gets even better if you are a little chickadee for then you could eat 35 percent of your weight or 600 granola bars each day. How lucky!

Food Habits

Yumm! I love ice cream sundaes, smothered in hot fudge, topped with walnuts, whipped cream and a red cherry on top. I also adore Eggs Florentine, with lots of hollandaise sauce. Thankfully, I don’t indulge very often, for I know that what I like is not always good for me. Eating well is a trade off that keeps me from getting diabetes, hypertension or clogged arteries. When I do crave sweets and creamed sauces, I do take a bite, never denying myself completely. The rest of the time it is fruit and veggies of all types. Did I neglect to say that I like beet salad as well as any sweet? I am addicted to the feta cheese mixed in.

As a child growing up in Philadelphia, I was happy when grandma took me to Horn and Hardart’s for lunch. In those days, you put a quarter in a slot next to a cubby hole covered with a glass door displaying an enticing selection of food. Everything was made fresh by chefs who worked on the other side of the wall refilling the empty cubbies. It was fun running from widow to window to find the best looking dishes. Vegetables were my food of choice with a fresh fruit cup for desert. My mouth salivates at the memory.

It seems strange that last week healthy food suddenly became a political issue. How could that happen? One of the best things Michelle Obama did was make the nation aware that we are raising a country of fat kids. Childhood obesity has tripled since the 1970s with one in five school-aged children affected.

According the the Centers for Disease control there are many reasons for obesity including:

genetics
metabolism—how the body changes food and oxygen into usable energy
eating and physical activity
environmental factors
Social and individual psychology

The most prominent reason, however, is due to consuming more energy from foods and beverages than the body needs to function well. The ramifications for obese children of indulging in a poor diet are many. They miss more days of school compared to those with a normal weight, are often bullied, and find it more difficult to perform academically. And, since they carry extra pounds, it is difficult to for them engage in the second most import weight reducing activity—exercise.

Scientists—yes, that recently malighned breed—studied the results of the reformed school meal program and found it to be effective in stemming obesity. . With 31 million students enrolled in this federally assisted meal program, it is easy to document if healthy choices have had a positive effect. There has been a noticeable reduction in obesity in elementary and middle schools over the past several years. There still is a way to go with teens who grew up with the old system.

Why change a program that appears to be working? Is the goal to have more children visiting health care providers because of acquiring a preventable disease? As of last week’s executive order, schools can increase the salt they put in their meals and they are not required to serve whole grain options. In other words, schools can return to serving flour, water, and salt, a formula used for making paste. Thankfully, the rule remains for students to take fruits and vegetables, though some want to get rid of that as well.

Since it is not easy to take off weight, wouldn’t it be smarter to start children on the right path so they will not have to struggle to take pounds off as they age? Certainly, kids like salt and chocolate and sugary carbonated drinks, but so what? Adults are supposed to be the educators who set the standards. I say, nonsense to the argument about children not making good choices. If they are hungry they will select food from the options before them. If they are filling up on junk food at home, then they must be getting money from somewhere to purchase it. Why pay for them to be part of the school meal program if they eat bad food that ruins their appetite? Look friends, the U.S. obesity epidemic is worse than ever. 38 percent of adults are obese as are 17 percent of teenagers.

Yes, socioeconomic factors are involved, for those with lower income and education are disproportionately more likely to be obese. Some communities have limited access to supermarkets so frozen meals, crackers , chips and cookies are foods of choice. It would be good to do something about having healthier choices in small markets as well, but since we can not tackle everything at once, lets continue with something we can do— provide children nutritious choices in school.

You, who follow my blog, most likely are healthy souls so I risk preaching to the converted. But, all of us should be concerned about the rest of our nation’s children. We have been feeding poor students since 1946,so why not do unto others as you would do unto your own family? Turning healthy nutritional options in school lunch programs into a political issue is a disgrace! Don’t let this happen in your community.

References:

Bird Note, 2017, How Much Do Birds Eat? http://birdnote.org/show/how-much-do-birds-eat

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Childhood Obesity Facts, https://www.cdc.gov/healthyschools/obesity/facts.htm

National School Lunch Program,https://www.fns.usda.gov/sites/default/files/NSLPFactSheet.pdf

Jalonick, Mary Clare, Associated Press, 2017, Government relaxes nutrition standards for school lunches, http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/government-relaxes-nutrition-standards-school-lunches/

Mayo Clinic Staff, Childhood obesity, 2017, http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/childhood-obesity/symptoms-causes/dxc-20268891

Take Me Out To the Ball Game

Spring has Sprung
40” by 20” / acrylic on Canvas, $499
I don’t know who wrote this version of Spring has Sprung but I remember it well from childhood.
Spring has Sprung, The grass is Riz, I wonder where my jacket is?

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

When I was a child I lived in Philadelphia where baseball was king. After work, Dad would gather my sister, brothers, and me, for a game of catch on the side lawn. Family picnics and summer camps always included a baseball game. And though I threw like a girl, which isn’t saying much,I was not a bad batter and was a middle pick when captains selected players.

On weekends Dad took us the see the winning Phillies and the declining Philadelphia Athletics (As). Dad had grown up with the Athletics, one of baseball’s two original teams, and was loyal to them until they moved. Men like Yogi Berra, Stan the Man Musial, Mickey Mantle, and Jacki Robinson were household names. When Robin Roberts helped the Phillies win the pennant in 1950 my friends and I were glued to the radio.

I remember ball park excursions and how dozens of kids were gathered outside to see if a home run ball would come whizzing over the wall so they could trade it in for admittance. Once inside the park we sang the national anthem and shouted with mounting excitement the moment, the announcer said “play ball.” A bag of peanuts, cracker jacks with its hidden toy, the taste of a hot dog smothered with mustard, a soft drink, and an occasional stomach ache adds to my memories. I also think of the time we forgot where we parked the car and took an hour to walk up and and down nearby streets before it was located.

In those days, attending major league games was in the reach of everyone. It was not, as it is today, a pastime of the wealthy. Two weeks ago, I found it difficult to believe a friend who told me he thought of going to the opening game in Seattle and paying $300 for a ticket. How many people have that much disposable income?

I decided to explore the cost of attending a typical game and find out if the price is still within the reach of most people. I learned that the average cost for bleacher seats for two people across all 30 major league teams is $ 77.92. If you add parking $16-$ 25, two hot dogs, $8.73, and $11.89 for two beers or drinks, it will cost a minimum of $ 114.54. Most fans consume more than one hot dog and buy a program and occasional souvenir. Attending games in older stadiums such as Fenway Park in Boston or Wrigley Field in Chicago may add $110 to the bill.
In 1950,Dad paid $ 1.59 for a ticket to the Phillies and even taking into account inflation, the price was reasonable. Over the years much has changed to make the average family unable to attend and cheer their heroes. No longer is baseball a way to escape misery as many did during the depression.

In order to understand how the game has changed, let’s consider the how the cost of financing a team escalated. The New York Knickerbockers was given the first hurdle in 1885 when asked to pay rent. It wasn’t long before franchise owners started paying good players “under the table” in order to keep them loyal. Revenue to pay expenses was primarily generated from tickets sales, but that changed over time because of radio, television, and print media.

My father told me that in the1940s his entire family sat in the living room listening to radio sports casters stirring imaginations with lively accountings. When television and print media took over, fans could see for themselves what was occurring and it want to attend live games. And as they came, so did licensed memorabilia. Money wise owners granted rights to show games on television and received money from advertisers to use their team brand.

Until the early 1950s Major Baseball League (MLB ) was composed of 16 teams in 10 cities, none west of St. Louis. Beginning in the late 60s, 14 franchises were added until the American and National leagues reached15 teams each (one is Canadian). With growth, new stadiums were constructed, and again attendance soared by 44%. Teams were bought and sold, and some business savvy owners moved their purchases to markets with a larger population. As the game continued to gain in popularity, players become more expensive to recruit and keep. In 2016, Clayton Kershaw of the Los Angeles Dodgers was paid $34.5 million. The best athletes were turned into heroes by the media which attracted more fans willing to pay higher prices for admission.

The cost of owning a team appears to have no end as expenses continue to rise. In 2010, the Yankees generated $325 million in ticket revenues, giving them a profit of over $ 100 million. But, since teams now engage in revenue sharing as a way of improving competitiveness, the Yankees had to pay out $75 million for distribution to teams in smaller markets. Stadium expenses, staffing, and pre-game entertainment add to the expenses that owners pass on to fans.

Though ticket prices have escalated, it is the add-ons that have really made a difference to the wallets of the average attendee. Fans eventually got used to paying for everything sold in the park. They pay to watch batting practice in the spring, for pre game entertainment, and $11 for a beer. Those watching at home, pay an average of $ 67 per month for cable TV.

Strange as it sounds talented athletes have negatively affected the excitement fans get from watching them play. Strikeouts have increased, base and home runs decreased, and scores are lower, making the game less lively for many. Playoffs stretch into late fall, with the World Series starting in October. The 162 games played throughout the spring and summer have less meaning for those waiting for the final competition.

Attendees are older and overwhelmingly composed of white men (70% —the TV audience is older than that of any other major sport. To the concern of many, the number of kids playing baseball has steadily declined over the past two decades.
One problem is that attending a game has increased from two to a six hour commitment which does not attract busy millennials. The game is longer, in part, because pitchers are changed more frequently and because of extensive pre-game activities. For example, the St Louis Cardinals have a Pregame Party that starts 2 1/2 hours before the game and features a DJ or live music that lasts until the first pitch. A full buffet and bar are included, requiring an additional fee.

One reason MLB attendance has been relatively steady over the years is that our country’s population continues to increase. There were 180 million people in the United States in 1960 and this month, April, 2017, there are over 326 million.

Though baseball attendance peaked in 2007, it has not yet recovered, producing inklings of concern for the faithful. In 2016, MLB it was again down slightly from the previous year, the third decline of the last three years. Attendance continues to fall at Little League and College World Series events. Optimists, believe expansion is inevitable but say that it will occur internationally rather than locally.

I wonder what will happen if ticket prices continue to climb, making them unaffordable to the average fan? Will it die does not attract more young people? A friend complained that the expansion to 30 franchises in the 70s and 80s diluted the talent pool, but others discount his opinion as players are recruited from Asia and Latin America. I am not sure that fans have the same passion for foreign born players as they did for home grown ones.

What do fans do who want to keep the sport alive? Dads who grew up with the game, face problems of whether to attend with their family. Since the average cost for four is $305, should Dad go alone or save so the family can attend one game a year? Should he take the children to a B team instead? Baseball is not as much fun to watch on television when you are by yourself. Do you think Dads will get their children to turn off the computer and bond by joining them for the game? Given two parent workers, is it possible to allocate time for a daily catch?

Some children do become involved in little league. However, that is a financial burden for low income families, for they need to purchase bats, gloves, helmets, shoes and perhaps private lessons. I can imagine how astronomical the costs are for my neighbor whose son travels with a team. Kids from single family homes have an especially difficult time joining a team. According to a recent study at the University of Nebraska, “95 percent of all college baseball players come from two parent homes.”

Baseball is still considered the nation’s national sport despite the fact that football games have higher TV ratings, stronger attendance, and revenue. Baseball maintains its position as America’s pastime because it has a broader reach into society. It manages to keep a local following while football’s is national. I hope it stays that way. Paying $700 for a ticket to Hamilton or $500 for the opera is just plain over the top. Let’s hope that baseball doesn’t become equally insensitive. Shouldn’t the average family be able to rally around at least one professional sport with ticket prices within their reach?

References:
Aumack, Ray The Economics of Baseball, 2012, http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2012/05/21/by-the-numbers-the-economics-of-baseball/

Tuttle, Brad, 9 Reasons It’s Hard to be a Baseball Fan Today, Money Magazine, 2015,
http://time.com/money/3772690/baseball-losing-fan-interest/

Hudgens, Laura Hanby, The decline of Baseball and Why it Matters, Huffpost, 2016,http://www.huffingtonpost.com/laura-hanby-hudgens/the-decline-of-baseball-a_b_9630782.html

Dodd, Mike, MLB expansion effects still felt 50 years later around the leagues, USA Today, 2011, https://usatoday30.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/2011-04-07-angels-baseball-expansion_N.htm

Lindholm, Scott, Major League attendance trends, past, present, and future, SB nation, 2014, http://www.beyondtheboxscore.com/2014/2/10/5390172/major-league-attendance-trends-1950-2013

Barra, Allen, Sorry, NFL: Baseball is Still America’s Pastime, The Atlantic, 2013, https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2013/10/sorry-nfl-baseball-is-still-americas-pastime/280985/

Official site of the St. Louis Cardinals – Pre Game show, 2017, http://m.mlb.com/cardinals/tickets/info/pregame
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Art is always for sale. Contact me at marilynne@eichingerfineart.com

The Anthropologist’s Way

Summer Night’s Dream
Acrylic on Canvas, 26” ato 32”, Gold Frame, $498

We are afloat in a world that has changed. The systems we grew up with in comfort are no longer applicable for a blended society that spans the globe.

The Anthroplogist’s Way

In college I majored in cultural anthropology, a pursuit my parents thought was one step up from useless. Since they assumed I would get married rather than travel the world to live among exotic tribes, they were not worried and never complained. They were right since I did get married at 18 and was a mother at 21. I never did go to the outreaches of Nigeria where I hoped find an unstudied people who would carry me to fame and fortune.

Looking back, I realize that I could not have made a better choice of major. Anthropology taught me a great deal and continues to guide my thoughts. It helped me understand how each person is culturally tied to the world from a unique vantage. And, though we reside within communities, our individual struggles make each of us the center of our own universe. We peer through tinted glasses shaded by family, community, economic conditions, and our own experiences.

Yet, with all of our differences, societies are similar in that they are organized around common systems. To understand the interrelationships between individuals, groups and institutions we studied beliefs and ways of organizing. The systems are identified as:

-religious
-political
-family
-economic
-social classes
-racial diversity
-gender roles
-ethical values
-distribution of wealth

These categories create an exchange of energy that defines the whole. Every society has them yet in each they differ.

Once I realized that societies have similar organizational needs, I reasoned that ego-centricity is the main cause of tension between cultures. The more I learned, the more difficult it became to define a particular system as good, better or best for it was created relative to the totality of everything in the environment.

I thought of how clothing can define a culture, yet they most likely were designed to accomadate a particular climate and habitat. For instance, those living in a Middle-Eastern desert would need to cover head, face, and body for protection from sandstorms and the burning sun. After realizing that these garments work well in harsh conditions, it is probable that the fashion was spread by nomads to nearby towns and cities. Since men and women’s bodies in Middle-Eastern countries are fully covered, their garments may also have contributed to ideas about morality and modesty. Of course, this is speculation on my part, but it makes some sense.

My high school history books talked about how ancient societies of hunters and gatherers slowly evolved to live a more agrarian existence. Further readings explained how pregnancies were welcome, for multiple births insured the group’s survival. Childhood diseases and accidents were rampant before antibiotics and deaths frequent. Hunting was dangerous and farming families needed many hands to till the land.

Today’s world has different challenges. Augmented farming methods give us the ability to feed more mouths with less need for labor. And though the birth rate has slowed in industrialized nations, population still increases in poor countries lacking resources. When a warming climate and war impacts those living in poor countries, families suddenly find that there is not enough safe, fertile land and drinkable water to survive. They are forced to migrate and come in conflict with strange organizational systems and beliefs.

Migrants as well as those in communities that accept them as immigrants become confused, don’t understand cultural differences, and have conflicting feelings about the ways “the others” view the world. The centers of their universes are now overlapped, causing tensions that can even lead to war. It happens quickly, with little time to accommodate.

Systems that previously worked well become suspect as migrants try to provide input even though most of their ideas are frowned upon by the dominant society. Few of us want to change. We hold on to our beliefs as though they are etched in stone forever more. We scream, fight, belittle, and say that we will not move away from what we have always known. We prefer to remain in a childhood comfort zone.

Time does not stand still and migrants do influence change. Societies constantly and painfully reorganize systems that mix cultural norms. The pushing and shoving, giving and taking that goes on around us is exacerbated by war, climate warming, population growth. Eventually a synergy results from this blending of cultures and people slowly adapt.

There are no absolutes. As mentioned earlier, we each see things from the center of our own universe. Einstein spent his waning years looking for a unified theory of the universe. His search for one unqualified, universal truth remains an unsolved challenge. We may never know absolute truth and for now, at least, have to deal with uncertainty and chaos.

What this means for most is that we must constantly question and realign systems as new input is received. It involves investigating beliefs and allowing that there are conflicting views that may be valid but we may never know for sure.

My parents would be surprised to discover that an anthropologist’s way of looking at systems might help different cultures coexist ccompassionately. By exploring common needs around food, water, land use and population perhaps rational decisions can be made to reorganize systems to benefit the majority.

Let’s also agree that it is OK to disagree when it comes to items of religious faith and embedded customs that do no harm to others. To live on this earth together, we have to bend a bit.
bend a bit.References:
1. Definition of Socio Cultural Anthropology, http://www.cod.edu/dept/anthro/cultural%20anthropology%20definition.htm
2. Noakes, Zoe, Why do the Poor Have Large Families? Compassion, January 2011, https://www.compassion.com.au/blog/why-do-the-poor-have-large-families
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I look forward to your comments below.

Art is always for sale. Contact me at marilynne@eichingerfineart.com

Carried on the Wind

Yellow Headed Blackbirds – sold

These birds are like canaries in the coals mine in that they let us know if the air is safe. So far, their habitat is good, they have a wide range, and are not considered vulnerable. Let’s keep it that way. Birds suffer from air pollution just like we do and the emissions that drive climate change are an immediate health concern for them as well. According to the Audobo n society, birds are exposed to more airborne particles than humans because birds have a higher breathing rate and spend more time in the open air.”

Carried on the Wind

Starting in 1996, and for the following seventeen years, my catalog business took me to Hong Kong each January. I looked forward to the 14 hour trip because I escaped Portland’s cold, rainy weather and landed in the warmth and sun of the South China Sea. In the early years, the sky was a beautiful blue and people clipped along crowded streets dressed in short sleeved shirts. Eight years later, I noticed a change in the weather and had to alter my attire. Slightly overcast skies made me carry a spring jacket but it was still pleasant. By my fourteenth trip the clouds were so thick that the sun could not get through and I needed a winter coat. During my last visit, face masks were sprinkled throughout the crowd of walkers as they hurried to get inside. Yellow smog stung my eyes, making the trip much less enjoyable.

Hong Kong and Kowloon, it’s nearby neighbor, are not manufacturing hubs. They face the water and have gentle breezes washing over them. I couldn’t understand where the smog was coming from and why it didn’t just dissipate out sea. It took an excursion to the mainland before I discovered what was happening. During the excursion a friend took me to see the sights of Shenzhen. While riding in the backseat with my partner, I could not our driver navigating the streets. I mentioned the smog and rotten odors, and asked my friend if he was concerned. To my surprise he proudly answered, “That is the smell of money.” Factories lined the road belching black smoke from coal burning furnaces and since the winds have no boundaries, the foul air was drifting over Hong Kong.


2003 – The blue skies, short sleeved shirts


2012 – What a change!


2013 – Coats needed in the Bird Market

China’s economy has certainly improved, but at a tremendous cost to human health. There used to be hundreds of bicycles scurrying everywhere. These have since been replaced by automobiles and busses discharging black exhaust. The country is plagued with rising costs of treating people with asthma and lung disease.

I was horrified. How shortsighted I thought. They are crowding local hospitals with asthmatics and those suffering from lung cancer. I was happy to return home where the air is clear most of the time—or at least it used be. Knowing that there are certain days when we are warned to stay inside, I decided to investigate Portland’s air quality and discovered that our city is among among the worst polluted in the country. On hazy summer days, you can see toxic substances floating in the air and in some neighborhoods you can smell them through the year.

I was surprised and wondered where our protectors were. How do we clean up our nest so we are not drinking foul water and breathing polluted air? Who is concerned with my family’s health? I don’t have the luxury of being able to escape to a house in the mountains or beach.

This is why I became upset when the heart was taken out of the EPA, one of the few government agencies set up to help. Because of their work, over the past 50 years, automobile emissions standards have greatly improved. Since the Clean Air Act, carbon monoxide is no longer a problem. And, by removing lead from gasoline, lead pollution has decreased with the exception of those cities where there are still large lead-emitting industrial facilities.

EPA recently reported improvements in air quality but added that pollution remains unhealthy in a great many areas of the country. They warn that bad air can cause premature death, asthma, harmful effects on the cardiovascular system, and have an increased likelihood of heart attacks and strokes. Health Magazine confirms that, “Fine particles emitted by vehicles (especially diesel-powered ones), coal-fired power plants, and burning wood can penetrate deep into the lungs, while car exhaust, heat, and sunlight contribute to high ozone levels.” When I drive around town I no longer open the window on nice days because as automobiles crowd the streets the air from their exhaust bothers me.

Just as in China, our economy is positively affected when controls are enacted. Air pollution caused by energy production cost $175 billion in 2002 but that number decreased to $131 billion in damages in 2011. These numbers demonstrate that healthcare costs can come down if proper safeguards are enacted.

During the Obama years we were all protected by more stringent standards. I cry now that they are being reversed. The American Lung Association says that more than half the people in the U.S. breathe air that is dirty enough to cause health problems. I knew that cities like Long Beach, California and Denver, Colorado were at the top of the list but had no idea that areas I always thought of as pristine like Fairbanks and Anchorage, Alaska, are also at risk. You and I are at risk for nationwide pollution is carried on the winds to affect us all.

Are you prepared to just sit back and not cry out? Do you want coal powered plants operating in your city? any city? Would you send your son down into a mine to work? Would you live in a city where, because of fracking, fire comes out of the kitchen faucet instead of water? I bet you do care about the air your children and grandchildren breathe and the water they drink.

As far as I am concerned there isn’t enough money in the whole world to make up for the health ravages that will be caused by increased pollution. Sorry coal miners, and oil frackers, but these are changing times and you need to take the responsibility to get retrained to work in clean energy industries. Let’s not allow the economic concern of a few to take away the health of a nation. Let’s ensure that there are birds around to sing us awake each morning.

References:
Qin, Kenneth, Audubon Audublog, 2015, Birds suffer from air pollution, just like we do. http://ca.audubon.org/news/birds-suffer-air-pollution-just-we-do

Koberstein, Paul, Study: Portland Air among worst in nation, March 2, 2016 Koin 6. http://koin.com/2016/03/02/study-portland-air-among-worst-in-nation/

EPA, Clean Air Act OVerview, 2017https://www.epa.gov/clean-air-act-overview/air-pollution-current-and-future-challenges%20

10 Peoples, Lynne, U.S. Cities with the Worst Air Pollution , Health, 2017 http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20490855,00.html

Harvery, Chelsea, Jan. 29, 2016, The Staggering economic cost of air pollution, Washington Post,

The Merry-Go-Round

Solar System Planets

The Merry-Go-Round

An old Chinese curse says: “May you live in interesting times.” We certainly do. Each day, events bombard us in the news, and though terrible, they certainly make this era a most interesting one. Twelfth century Chinese believed that the most fascinating periods in history were those filled with upheaval and chaos. I relate to their belief for when I open my eyes in the morning I can’t wait to discover what happened while I slept. Though emotionally, I don’t like living through turmoil, intellectually I do enjoy stepping outside of conflicts to let my mind make sense of the staged events. In order to keep balance, I remind myself that historically peace and war, wealth and poverty, played cyclical games that can last hundreds of years.

Global travel clarifies many of the changes that have taken place during my own short life. Boundaries have moved so often that I keep having to get new maps. Eritrea became independent from Ethiopia in 2002, the Aouzou Strip in Libya was given to Chad, and Somaliland has declared independence, though without UN recognition. Three years ago I went to the Ukraine. Now the borders and access to the land are different. The Crimea was annexed in 2014 after Russia decided that their need for seaports was more important than Ukraine’s sovereignty. By controlling the area they consider historically to be theirs, they gain natural gas rights in the Black Sea and oversight of Sevestapol, the seaport that houses their military fleet. Russia also aquired more wealth by retaining military equipment left behind by the Ukraine people, and they now control access to the remaining Ukrainian seaports. Some power still remains with Ukraine, though, for it owns most electrical plants as well as access to fresh water. The entire region, however, has become a powder keg.

I feel like I am on a merry-go-round and am not sure how to get off. As it cycles I pass an escalating tide of humanity who suffer because of our poorly advised invasion of Iraq. But, what surprises me the most, are the Americans who have become reluctant to help destitute refugees fleeing from harm’s way? I wonder what I would do if bullets rained down on my head? Would anyone be there to help me?

Then I spin past billionaire mansions in gated communities and watch their inhabitants deny workers fair wahes, health care and affordable housing. I pass streets filled with tents and eyeball beggars asking for handouts. I witness illegal farmworkers being emoved by immigration officers while their employers are not fined for hiring them in the first place. Their innocent children live in fear that they will be separated from their parents. If it is so important to remove illegal residents from our country, why aren’t the employers who have become wealthy by their past labor not asked to pay for their resettlement costs? I am curious to discover who will remain working as low pay farm labor and who will make the beds in luxury hotels?

Students of history know that times of peace and prosperity cycle with those of war and chaos. There are eras when demigods, emperors, and kings control the masses and those when the proletariate rise up and rebel. The Magna Carter was the result of one such uprising and our own country rose to expell British rule. China’s dynasties present another example. Each time the wealthy rulers became corrupt the dynasty was threatened, eventually overthrown, and a new government formed. The children of thereformers, would become lazy and spoiled over time and the cycle would start over again. Fascinating? Depressing? Scary? Is this what is happening in our country? Are our leaders corrupt and self-centered? Is this what we are beginning to see throughout the world?

You can’t turn on the news without being blasted with stories of Greece’s fragile economy, removal of the president of South Korea due to corruption, Neo-Nazi’s in the Netherlands, and migrations due to land and resource grabs. We hear that with Brexit, the survival of the European Union is challenged, that pollution in China directly affects our own air quality, that fracking in Oklahoma causes earthquakes, and that overfishing is depleting an important source of the world’s food supply. Interesting times? The merry-go-round continues to cycle with its horses traveling up and down. I ride on it but it is not always fun.

Connected we are, whether we want to be or not. With international banking, mega corporations and trade agreements we left our isolationist past behind a long time ago. Do you know that warming trends have negatively affected coffee growth in Sierra Leone thereby increasing coffee prices in the U.S.? That extreme weather brought on by rising temperatures and changes in precipitation threaten the food we eat, the air we breathe, and the water we drink? Yes, we are a global earth.

Remember the saying “nature abhors a vacuum?” As an anthropology student I was taught that if a poor overpopulated country is located near a wealthier one with a smaller population those living in poverty will soon be pushing boundaries and moving into the country with greater resources. There may be local laws trying to prevent that movement but the laws of nature say that governmental laws will lose in the end because the desire to survive is so great that people will do whatever they can to feed their families.

Countries may try to stop immigrants from coming to their soil but any anthropologist will say that in dire times, need overcomes law. Population movements can’t help but effect the lives of lawful reseidents. Last year 65 million people migrated from war-torn countries and the from those affected by global warming. Severe drought affected livestock and farming and lack of drinking water meant thousands moved or died. Rising sea levels put farmland under water in Bangladesh and the island of Kiribai. What will it be next year? Will we continue to ignore this threat and let people die? What if Manhattan has another severer hurricane that threatens their food supply?

Changing long held thought patterns is difficult. It involves digging for unbiased updated information and a willingness to shift beliefs when presented with new facts. Analysis can be emotional because results often challenge minds that basically want to remain comfortable by clinging to old ways. Still, adapting to change should not be more difficult than learning how to use the latest App. Yet, it is. Strangely, fewer than 50% of American adults believe in evolution. These non-believers view scientists as a threat to their worldview rather than as researches and providers of information from which to reevaluate decisions. Perhaps there is a benefit to clinging on to old ways and thought patterns.

I am an example of a person who resisted using computers when they were first mass marketed. As a museum director, I made sure they were near by but I had other people operate them for I did not want to “waste” my time on the computer. That was a bad decision. Now I realize that staying abreast of social, political, and technological landscapes are requirements for living fully and in the moment. They certainly are a must for any parent educating a child.

Though I often write of how to suvive upheavals, this interesting era is not all terrible. It can be fascinating to put yourself on a merry-go-round when your eyes are open and your heart hopeful for a gold ring to be there to grab. Figuring out underlying causes and developing ways to solve problems can be challenging and rewarding. I am remain ever curious to discover what will happen next. I’d like to return to earth in 200 years and see how this political turmoil will evolve? What is your prediction for the future?

References:

Latest countries formed https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2014/09/16/the-9-newest-countries-in-the-world/?utm_term=.b4297be5a30a

National Center for Science Education –https://ncse.com/node/16774

Effects of Rising Sea Levels –http://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/sea-level-rise/

Global Climate Change, Vital Signs of the Planet: https://climate.nasa.gov/e

NASAffects/ EPA- Effects of global warming: https://www.epa.gov/climate-impacts/climate-impacts-human-health

Please comment below.

Art is always for sale: contact me at marilynne@eichingerfineart.com.

Seeing with Clarity: Recognizing Hope

Seeing with Clarity: Recognizing Hope

Last week I finished reading the Lost Symbol by Dan Brown. His writing style keeps me on edge as he has one mysterious occurrence blending into the next, one clue opening a door leading to a twist in the road that ends with a wall to be scaled. In The Lost Symbol, the topic interested me because it deals with metaphysical questions involving wisdom. Injected into a labyrinth of secrets, codes and hidden truths was a villain who wanted power that he believed came from a single word—one that would give life meaning. At the risk of spoiling the ending, I was surprised that the final revelation was simply the word “hope.”

Words are symbols that can carry deep meaning. And though it has been weeks since completing the book, I have been unable to get this symbol out of my mind. Composed of four ordinary letters, hope elicits more power than I had originally thought possible.

Hope. President Obama wrote a book called, The Audacity of Hope, which contributed to his election. President Trump’s campaign also gave hope, especially to white middle class men who had been feeling left out. Bernie Sander’s did the same for young adults by energizing them to believe that a world based on equality and fairness is possible.

All people want to believe that their lives matter and that their concerns will be taken seriously. Everyone wants to trust that there is a purpose to their existence and that dreams hold promise. But hope only flourishes when we finally accept ourselves and acknowledge that we are enough as we are, even without having billions of dollars. Each is a soul in transition, capable of growth and change so that we can reinvent ourselves over and over again. Just as hope embraces acceptance, it also envelops forgiveness and offers love, for these elements allow for a new start.

During tough times it is difficult to embrace adversity and engage in fighting it. But it is your choice. It is your struggle and your decision to move forward. Believing in yourself as a survivor can help surmount terrible obstacles just as the embracing hope of thousands of people who are willing to fight for democratic values will help our country survive with dignity.

But, there are times when people need our assistance so that they can see a ray of sunshine. Their stumbling blocks may be so severe that hope does not enter their consciousness. For instance, a single mother, living in poverty, raising her children in a drug inflicted neighborhood faces barriers that seemingly have no end. A mentally ill man, experiencing difficulty in getting and keeping a job, may wonder how he will ever house and feed himself. A prisoner sentenced in his youth for years without parole, faces slowly moving minutes without hope for better way forward. An honor role student who watches her mother deported because she immigrated illegally so her children could have a better life may lose hope for her own future. And, it is easy to understand why the 32 million illiterates living within our borders who have little chance for full time employment at a livable wage may despair of hope.

But these people do not have to stay among the hopeless. They too can join the march towards economic security and fulfillment though we may have to give them a boost and help them dig their way out of quicksand that has trapped their feet. If we let them stand on our shoulders they will be able to look over the fence of poverty and entrapment. But, to maintain their hope, what they see must be a land devoid of unbridled capitalism that ignores the welfare of many for the benefit of a few. The sun must shine through air that is healthy to breathe and it must sparkle on streams and green pastures that are maintained for future generations. The fields must be leveled so men and women of all races and religions are treated equitably and without fear of being bullied. The school bell must ring out messages that call all to understand the history of our past and the science and technology of our future so that citizens will want to participate in bettering society.

Once the multitude can see a light shining on tidings that sparkle with promise, then their dreams will compound to add strength to the nation. Hope for a better future is what always brought people to our shores and it is by restoring hope that we will make America great again.

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