How Happy are You America? Looking at Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness…

Notation: for those of you that would rather watch this blog, scroll down to the end to use the video player. 

I think that there is absolute truth to the fact that being happy extends your very life.

Question, how do we fare here in America? Are we happy?  What constitutes being a happy individual and, how does our health relate to our happiness level?  It seems that we would need to be in good health to be happy.  We would also need the ability to prosper so that we can enjoy our lifestyles.   Let’s take a look at some interesting statistics identified in portions of a Harvard study I was listening to during a live recording from an alternative public radio station, *Sojourner Truth, on the subject of today’s mortality rates in America. This Harvard study initially focused their primary attention on disease as being the number one contributor to the shortened mortality rates in America today.

*Sojourner Truth broadcast available on this link for 90 days from Dec. 31^st, 2010

However, as they began to research the various diseases they discovered that there seems to be some definitive underlying factors that predisposed people to contracting various diseases; and therefore the focus of the study branched off into what those other factors were.  Before we dive into that, let’s look at some mortality statistics within America today when compared to that of neighboring countries that are also considered among the wealthiest countries in the world. 

In 2009, Congress funded a study on mortality rates in America and upon concluding their study it was reported that a young man of 25 years was less likely to reach retirement at age 65 when compared to men of the same age in other rich nations.  In researching those comparative statistics it was also discovered that 45 countries have a better chance of attaining longer life spans than we do here in America today.  

When looking at infant mortality rates, it was discovered that 41 nations have a lower child mortality rates pertaining to those children being able to reach the age of 5 years than do we here in America.  There seemed to be a direct correlation between these countries and ourselves in that these other countries all provided health care for their populations; and had seemingly better infant health care systems than do we here in America.   This made me think of the day I gave birth to my son.   On that day, there were 13 women in labor in the maternity ward, and there were only two OBGYNs’ on hand.  

Of these thirteen women in labor, ten gave birth via C-Section and the rest were naturally born.   I was one of the lucky ones in that I did not even see my doctor during my eighteen hours of labor until I was rushed into the delivery room already giving natural birth.  I had to wonder as I lay next to a woman in pain having had a C-Section; just how many of those women having this procedure did so due to the under staffing of the OBGYNs’ on that day? 

In 1960 it was noted that only 14 other countries had better health care than did we in America; today however America, along with Kroweshia, Afghanistan, Africa, and Iraq are among the countries today noted in the Harvard study as having the least adequate health care programs for their populations.  So let’s look at the quality of health care in America today as provided with the Obama Care Plan, or, the Health Care Reform Act HR3200 that was recently passed into law in both the House and Senate.  Rather, let’s look at who was behind the influence in creating this bill and assuring that it would become Law.  

If you watched the specifics of this Senate Bill from this blog’s link you will see that this Bill, HR3200, actually limits our ability to receive adequate and comprehensive health care.  So we have to ask, is the President’s power being trumped by something that is actually more powerful than the President’s own ability as President to provide a quality health care program for America?  If so, what could that power be?  That power is “Numbers”… 

These numbers are to the tune of 375 million dollars.  These are the numbers that private interest lobbyist groups, mostly contributions from the Health and Insurance Industries, have contributed to Congressional Leaders to influence the debate and the outcome of the health care reform bill, as well as its passage into law.  This is the most money ever poured into any one issue in the history of our country.  This money has been mostly used to stop reform in the healthcare industry related to regulating the costs of health care procedures and pharmaceutical necessities; and in so doing excessively weakens America’s ability to provide comprehensive health care to its citizens.

Here is the Break Down of Those Expenditures…

If you listen to Rick Sanchez of CNN discuss this with Senator Bernie Sanders you will discover which politicians have been given huge amounts of campaign funds from corporate pharmaceutical companies in order to influence decisions in Congress that address the quality of provisional health care. 

These are the monies our elected officials were given to promote the agenda driven interests of various health care entities and their lobbyist as acquired from the site,  http://www.opensecrets.org/

 

Resource Information provided at: http://www.opensecrets.org/.

The figures listed above list the contributions given to our elected officials in 2009. These were given directly from the Pharmaceutical and Health Products Companies.  The question that Rick Sanchez asked of Senator Sanders after reviewing these numbers was…

 “Do you think that these companies expect a return on their investment?” 

 Senator Sanders stated, “You bet they do, adding that America has become way too corporatized, if not controlled by corporate interests.”   He gives an example of how in America today we pay the highest prices for prescription drugs than any other country in the world, stating the reason for this as being that drug companies pour millions and millions of dollars into the political processes that regulate health care issues, including prescription drugs. 

He adds that…

 “America is the only country in the industrialized world that does not provide health care for its citizens.”

“This is because the hospitals, the health care insurance industries, and the pharmaceutical companies are all making billions of dollars right now, and they don’t want us to touch their profits.  And they are going to influence legislation in order to protect their assets.”   This lack of caring and sharing coming from our elected officials is one of the direct contributors to the lessened longevity of, We the People, in America today.  We’ll identify the three major causes at the conclusion of this blog. 

Hummm…. Is America way too corporatized?   Under the First Amendment, individuals have their inalienable rights to pursue prosperity, correct?  However, Ted Olsen, former Solicitor General for the Bush Administration stated in a report to the Senate that Corporations have the right to their first amendment rights just as do individuals.  

According to Mr. Olsen corporations should have the right to become major share holders in the American economy, and they should be allowed to fund their corporate prosperities through legislation in their efforts to achieve their own economic prosperity in America, just as do individuals in America today.  Their investments should be considered individual investments, and as such should be protected under law.  

Upon hearing this, Ruth Ginsburg the Associate Justice of the Supreme Court; who also was instrumental in launching the Women’s Rights Project of the American Civil Liberties Organization, posed this question to Mr. Olsen with regard to his reasoning in formulating this idea pertaining to corporations as individuals.  Here is how their discussion went…

Ruth Ginsburg asks…                          

 

 

 

Adding…

 

 

Mr. Olsen responds, “Yes.”

 

Prompting this second question from Ginsburg…  

  

 

 

 

Mr. Olsen replies…   

 

 

 

 

He then adds… 

 

    

 

 

 

And Ruth Ginsburg asks…       

 

 

 

 

And Mr. Olsen responds…  

  

 

 

 

And she replies… 

 

 

 

 

 O.K., let’s look at some important points in this discussion… 

First of all, Mr. Olsen states, “The Court” makes no distinction based upon the nature of the entity that might own a share of a corporation.    Did you notice that now the entity that is “The Court” is somehow making conclusions about what and individual, and individual rights are?  Hummm, does that mean that the plural entity that is the Court now over rides the US Constitution that sets in place the protection of the rights of the individual?  

Does this mean that “The Court” through its laws cancels out the U.S. Constitution’s?  But Justice Ginsburg makes a valid point worth considering.  So what happens if the major shareholders in the American economy are shareholders from other countries, and their interests may be contrary to guaranteeing the health and economic prosperity of our country itself? 

Now I have no problems with international businesses crossing over throughout the world to support world-wide business collaborations to the benefit of all here in America; but what Ruth Ginsburg is concerned about is the un-equal benefit to these corporations over individual American citizens themselves; as corporations use financial leverage through their congressional contributions, which are then able to manipulate laws to facilitate their own prosperity at the expense of the American people and the economy itself.

Because of the severely wavering economic stability of individual citizens in our society today, these individuals simply do not have the economic means to make their interests heard in the House and Senate as do corporations.  Bottom line, poverty in America has become the new American dream, perhaps nightmare, as state by state unemployment rates continue to rise above 9% in each state.

Now going back to the Harvard study, in addition to lack of sharing and caring pertaining to assuring people that they can have access to comprehensive preventative medical treatment; for the most part, today’s medicine focuses on disease instead of what makes people susceptible to illness.  Within the Harvard study findings it was discovered that these health disparities in longevity were also directly related to economic status.

American Individual Prosperity…

 Today in America 7% of our national population live in poverty.  Minimally 9% of all Americans in each state are unemployed.  While American’s line the corners heading to the food banks and unemployment lines; our government is bailing out big corporations, banks, and wealthy investors on Wall Street with billions of tax payer dollars. 

In a major filibuster speech given by Senator Bernie Sanders to Congress in December of 2009 Senator Sanders states, “Mr. President, in the year 2007, as the Middle class began to collapse, the top 1% of earners in the United States made 23 ½% of all income, more than the entire bottom 50%.  The percentage of income going to the top 1% nearly tripled since the 1970s’.   Today, if you can believe it, the top 1/10 of 1% earns about 12¢ of every dollar earned in America.  If anybody takes a little time to research these statistics it is clear to see that while the Middle Class is collapsing, the top 1% are doing extremely well while the bottom 50% continue their decline into poverty.”

Poverty leads to depression and a sense of helplessness that does not support a happy and healthy outlook on life, or life itself for that matter.  This directly predisposes the poor to illness and shortened longevity according to the Harvard study.  Poverty also increases the likelihood that individuals will end up incarcerated within the prison systems.  Today in America 1 in 100 are incarcerated. 

Today America’s Department of Corrections is the largest run correctional establishment throughout the world.  If we are free, why do we need the largest department of corrections?  Also, it was noted that children growing up in poverty are more likely to find themselves in the correctional institutions before the age of 15.  And it is widely known that America’s prison systems have very poor health care provisions for their inmates.   Recently I read that the D.O.C., Department of Corrections, was considering pardoning those with terminal illness early, releasing them into the social system for their care.   I have to ask, in our current failing health care system that offers little assurance of needed treatment to those individuals that can afford health insurance, what is the likelihood that these early release individuals will find the health care they need to treat their terminal illnesses?

Where is the protection for the American people?  How can we attain our inalienable rights to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness in today’s societal system?  

And, what are the key killers in today’s society that predisposes us to dying?  They are… 

Lack of Societal Caring and Sharing… 

Early Life Disadvantage…

Where is the Heart of American Morality?

And Poverty… 

My Friends, these three things seem to be the very things that we are being forced to endure under our current political structure in America.   For our government to force us into complacency, disadvantaged health care, and poverty is immoral; and represents political corruption in its entirety.   So why is this occurring?  It is because our current elected officials are allowing the flaws of their own human nature to dictate the outcomes of our lives; and, it is all because of their greed and selfishness.  

This is clearly evident in our current economic system.  We must remember the power of the few political elite on top is totally dependant on the obedience of the majority on the bottom. Are we to be obedient to these political elite that sail away on their yachts with the American tax payers providing the winds for their sales?   These political elite are forcing America and her American Citizens into poverty through coercive laws and regulations to the demise of our very own inalienable right to life, liberty, and now, even hope for pursuing happiness.

Now it is not too late to use our majority vote to bring back the sound leverage of fairness and honesty in political practices.   We have not lost the power of our vote.   Your vote, in the long run is more cost-effective to the politician than the millions that lobbyist groups and corporations can pour into their coffers.   Without you and me they too will find themselves in the ranks of the unemployed.

I suggest to you that only a politician that is dedicated to fully operational honesty, without compromise, is capable of representing his or her people.  I invite you to look at the Twelve Visions Party Contract, to read it and then to realize that, a Twelve Visions Party candidate is bound through the Twelve Visions Party contract to represent The Prime Law.

We cannot stand alone for change.  We cannot live alone and be represented.  We must unify for the protection of all, bound under the representation of truth and honesty if we are to lift each and every individual American Citizen to the Life, Liberty, and Pursuit of Happiness that they are ordained to have as sentient beings in life.

With a government of non-initiatory force governing America today we will once again be lifted up in wealth, health, and prosperity for all.  Do you want to live a life of happiness again?   You say yes?  Then today, now it is time to do something about it.  You can join in with the Twelve Visions Party® in its mission to re-establish Life and Happiness for All using fully integrated honesty to de-politicize a corrupt political system.

TheUndefeatedLife

  

As I Think, Therefore I Am

I like to research and study many ancient manuscripts and writings from previous histories in time.  I came across this document recently taken from gnostic writings older than the dead sea scrolls.  Let’s take a look.

“As by fire the dross of metal is burned and cast out, leaving that which is pure; so created I the righteous with light from My countenance, to burn out the dross which the wicked nestle into their bosoms.In this, man shall perceive that it is the dross that heals Me and My chosen.

Go, then, deliver the wicked which have been trapped in darkness, and make them clean with water and with fire, and ye shall find a star in every soul.And as many of these as you deliver from darkness, so is your glory in My etherean kingdoms in universe high.

Each deliverer is as a sun around which these stars congregate, and they magnify one another forever. And when these stars have grown, they also go and do in like manner; for it is of such that My exalted ones are in the highest heavens, whom ye call Gods and Lords, and justly so, because of their supremacy.”

end of quote…

After I finished reading this, for some reason I went back to a memory of myself singing that song…This little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine

Such encompassing love….to reach out to those in the outer reaches of hopelessness and despair to bring them into their own inner light. That of The Child of the Universe within just waiting to be birthed into immortal supremacy as the gods and goddesses they were destined to be. How can we think, when looking at the all-encompassing beauty that is life and life’s creations that we are not a part of the bigger picture?

If I think and therefore I am, then as a creator of mine own immortal existence, even as a starlight from the heavens beyond…I truly am God. Perhaps this is why Moses was answered with, “I am that I am.” our outcomes continue to unfold and then evolve into that which will become our citizenry in the Civilization that knows no death. The Civilization of the Universe of Love and Light.

Thank you for being alive, because in life are all the possibilities waiting to be brought forth into existence.

TheUndefeatedLife

Enabling The Disabled….I Met This Remarkable Man

It was a rough year for me in 1991, I had thought that all my dreams of happiness in life were coming to me in a beautifully unfolding oracle of life renewal.

My husband and I were so happy to embrace our newborn son…

I learned so much about humanity as I held this frail little child so dependent on me for love and protection.   Too soon though the beauty became dim when I was told that our son had multiple disabilities.   Our dreams came shattering down around us like a house of cards collapsing in on themselves.

I soon found myself alone with my son, a single parent, and feared for the life of my son.  Every week; as I struggled to hold down my new job, I would find myself in the wee hours of the night rushing my son to the emergency room because of his uncontrollable convulsions which caused him to lose consciousness and stop breathing.

Have you ever held the purple and lifeless body of an infant child as you did CPR on them?  I cannot even begin to explain how that feels when it is your own child – if only to say helplessness.    After a night in the emergency room, I would take my son to daycare afraid that he may not live throughout the day; but, I had to work to care for him.   Again Helplessness…

I began to believe that helplessness was the new meaning of life for me…

Then, when I felt that my world was the worst possible place to be, I met this remarkable man.   I had been looking for another part-time job because I was financially burdened and needed extra income.    When I first met Frank F. Genco, he was skating towards me on one leg.   He had a big smile on his face and was so enthusiastic about living, and life itself; I almost felt ashamed of the place my mind and my emotions found themselves in…ashamed  that I was not as enthusiastic as he about life as he raced towards me, an amputee.

I learned that he was an instructor, among other things, and that he was looking for an office assistant.  His office was in his home which worked out great for me as we lived in the same community and I could even take little Ray, my son with me as I worked!   What new Mom wouldn’t want that?

As I got to know this man I realized that he was really a gift to the world.   He was a gift, not only to the world, but to each and every individual he met (just as he had been to me).   He also helped to found an organization that worked with disabled individuals, helping them to strive for advancement, despite their disabilities’ and received national recognition and sponsorship for his program.

I typed several celebuses’ for his classes on Self Improvement, Mental Clarity Enhancement, Overcoming Stress and Anxiety, and much more.   This man was  truly one of those people who seem to be God’s gift to the world around them.

Take Courage in Life and Run With It!…

Here is his picture of Frank taken from an L.A. Times article about his participation in the L.A. Marathons….(Yes, he ran over 20 L.A Marathons and finished each one).   I actually ran one with him, while pushing my three-year old in a stroller….You see meeting this man during one of the lowest points in my life – encouraged me to tackle the world; to believe in myself, and above all to Take Courage in Life and Run With it!

Frank F.Genco, 58, propels his 120-pound body by thrusting his crutches, customized with special shock-absorbing tips, tennis handle grips and arm rests wrapped with red, white and blue duct tape.

A hypnotist by trade, Genco got the idea to skate a marathon from a client, a competitive roller skater from Long Beach. He raced the Long Beach Marathon in 1979 and got hooked.

Since then, he has raced every Los Angeles Marathon since the event began nine years ago, and has finished all of them. It takes him a little under four hours to complete the 26-mile course.

He lost his right leg when he was 3 because of a birth defect, but Genco says he never felt limited.

“I come from a large family, with 11 brothers and sisters, so I did everything they did,” he said.

That included biking, swimming and leading a Boy Scout troop. But one-legged marathon skating was a sport he developed himself.

Along with the trials all marathon runners face–heat, thirst, exhaustion–Genco has his own. Strewn with cast-off paper cups, the streets are an obstacle course. One year, he slipped on a cup, Genco said. Another time it was an orange peel, another time a piece of candy.

“The runners are really great,” he said. “They picked me up, threw me on my crutches, and said keep on going.”

*

In Life….we all have difficulties.   We all assume that our road is the hardest; and perhaps, some even find themselves embittered towards the rest; as if the situation we find ourselves in were ANYBODIE’S FAULT.   Sometimes hardships happen, and we must just work through it.

What is important in life is to become a part of the solution; both in our own life and in the love and grace we show to our fellow-man.   You see, I believe in this way we are fulfilling life’s purpose of learning to love ourselves, and those around us, (Loving Freely – Without Expectation).  When we learn to accomplish this, we will empower our own outcomes and assist others’ to do the same by the example we bring.

The effect is that all of a sudden, our love becomes the love of life, the love of living itself!

Did you notice the slogan on Frank’s shirt?   That is what he would always tell me….  “The one thing I can tell you is that, in Life I Want to Live it My Way.”   Just as Frank overcame his physical limitation’s and rather turned them into an example of success through his love for the invigoration of life itself; we all should try to remember that no matter what happens, our strength is found in the individuality of who we are and how we learn to love and lift up our life towards the reality that we want our lives to become.

So. I just wanted to share this amazing story about one of my life heroes, A Remarkable Man.  Thank you Mr. Genco, I love, Respect, and will Always Remember and Admire YOU.

The Undefeated Life

What Is A True Hero? Meet Mr. Ed Freeman, My Hero…

 

Civilian Medal of Honor Recipient, Ed Freeman

 

 Veterans Day is recognized on November 11th throughout the United States.  Canada recognized it’s Veterans on the same calendar day, although in Canada, this commemorative holiday in honor of the veteran is named Remembrance Day. It seems to me that where ever you are in the world we all recognize that young men and women throughout history have fought for the freedoms’ and liberties we enjoy in our perspective countries throughout the world. For this reason, in the United States, we have set aside November 11th as the day we Americans remember the brave contributions that service men and women have given in service to our country…in some cases, even with the giving of their very own lives! 

 

Sometimes I wonder though when our young people are being sent to other countries to provide the service of protection to that far away land; was that the initial purpose our forefathers had in mind when they designated the branches of service to defend our borders?   I have had close friends that have really been injured both physically and emotionally when sent to other countries to defend those borders.  And upon returning home (if so lucky), were actually ridiculed as was the occurrence with many veterans of the Viet Nam War.  I believe that anyone that places their life in service to the protection of life has automatically become a hero to his fellow man.   War, being an essence of violence; I feel because it is usually generated through the hateful actions and selfish motivations of others, should not be. But let’s face it, we live in a violent world, where our civil rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are in need of protection both within and without our borders.   

 

So, young men and women are drafted into the service of our country to protect us and our boarders during times of violence and war.  What about Iraq? I just don’t know.   I find it personally hard to believe our intentions for war in that situation myself.   To me, there is just so much unnecessary suffering in that violent region that I have to question exactly what is the driving motivation for sending our young people there to risk the possible loss of their lives?   Enough of that….  Now, I want to share with you a true story as given to me from a dear friend of the man pictured at left, Mr. Ed Freeman…  Originally, this story was told by the quote, “19 year old kid” referenced below.

 As the world starts to fade, you know, this is the day…..Today, soon you will die. 

It’s November 11th, 1965.  You are a nineteen year old kid serving overseas in Viet Nam, fighting for America. You’re critically wounded and dying in the jungle in the La Drang Valley.   Your infantry unit is outnumbered 8-1 and the enemy fire is so intense, coming from 100 or 200 yards away, now your own Infantry Commander has ordered the Medi-Vac helicopters to stop coming in to pick up the wounded.   You’re lying there, you feel the cold-hot wetness of your bleeding wounds; as you lay there listening to the enemy machine guns, you know you’re not getting out.   You begin to think about your family half way around the world, 12,000 miles away, and think to yourself…..you’ll never see them again.  As the world starts to fade in and out as you lay in the field, you know this is the day.   Today, soon, you will die.

 

Then – over the machine gun noise – you faintly hear that sound of a helicopter.

You look up to see an unarmed Huey.  But…..It doesn’t seem real because no Medi-Vac markings are on it.

No, it’s not a Medi-Vac, its Ed Freeman and he is coming for you!   He’s not Medi-Vac so it’s not his job, but he’s flying his Huey down into the machine gun fire anyway.  Even after the Medi-Vacs were ordered not to come……Ed Freeman is coming anyway.   He drops his Huey in and sits there under machine gun fire, as they load two or three of you on board.   Then he flies you up and out through the gunfire to the doctors and nurses. As the many wounded of your Infantry Unit lay in the field wounded, Ed Freeman kept coming back!!   He came back thirteen more times!!  He took about thirty of you and your wounded buddies out; you know you would never have gotten out without him.  This story was sent to me via email in October, and it concluded with……. 

 This Medal of Honor Recipient, Ed Freeman, died October 7th, 2009, at the age of 80, in Boise, Idaho.

After I read this story and looked at the beautiful face of this man, Mr. Ed Freeman, I could not help but celebrate his beautiful life.   His life was beautiful to me because he, through his heroic actions, placed his desire for the protection of life itself in the forefront thereby allowing life to become the driving force and purpose of his life itself…and all to save the lives of many others.   There is no cowardice here, bravery extinguishes all fear and hostility; bravery generated through love delivers this type of heroic mindset that produces life and life giving values too others.    You know, I think that Ed Freeman was an angel in disguise; it was the internal love in his heart that put into motion the actions in his life that in turn saved many, many, more.   When I look around the world of hate and bitterness we live in today, I can only feel thankful for the heroes.   One day, perhaps in a Twelve Visions World, there will be no more war for all people will live in peace and prosperity.

 

Who are the heroes of our day?  

My heroes are those people that represent truthful honesty, and act on that honesty with convictions which put into motion life saving actions directed towards others.   I believe that we all have the potential to be someone’s hero – to bring life saving value into another person’s life.   Too often today we value temporal objects and things which give nothing back.   The Value in Sharing Life Giving Values is that those same values are given and shared with another, and another through out time, always leaving the presence and tenderness of love in this sharing wake throughout progressive time; thereby holding down the forces of death and destruction.  Without the Ed Freemans in our world I don’t think we would ever really understand what living for love is.  Thank you Ed; without people like you, perhaps I would have no one left to love.

The Undefeated Life