Viewing other Blogs on eblogger

Well, after viewing some of the other blogs on Google I see my blog is very plain.  Not that I am a "plain Jane", however, I just don't have the fancy, schmancy design skills the rest of you do.  I'm lucky to download a photo or two on my site.  I guess I'll have to experiment and try some things out.  I see there is a design button/tab up top, but I'm not sure I really know what to do with it.  I hope to someday get my blog design up to snuff and join the rest of your beautiful design jobs, but for now it's "plain Jane

WOW!  I just went to the design tab and it is definitely going to take me a while to figure out a design for my blog.  It is very confusing and for me and a trial by error learning experience.  Well, my design doesn't have to be too fancy as this is a writing blog.  The emphasis is suppose to be on the content and the writing.  I don't want bells and whistles detracting from that.  But, I will try a little more aesthetic look to keep up with all the great blog designs I've seen so far.  I probably have bitten off more than I can chew at the moment, but, hopefully, I'll someday be feasting at the big table.  How's that for a corny metaphor?  Time to say "goodnight!"

The National Debt

The United States is bankrupt.

There, I just said the obvious and it feels good to say it. We are in debt about $14,000.000.000.000.000. (that's fourteen trillion dollars)  It is hard to conceive, but looking at all those zeros helps.  Our government is  taking in less money than it is spending.   Any household that spends more money than it takes in is bankrupt.  This is simple, common sense logic, yet when applied to our government, we are told deficit (debt) is good  and actually okay for our economy and the world's economy.  Who is Washington trying to kid?  It's not good and if we don't start doing something positive about the national debt we are going to be, literally, in a world of hurt.

We owe so much to China now, that if China calls in our loans, we'll all be learning Chinese as a second language or, perhaps, a first language.  For me, this is the most frightening aspect of all.  If China were a more democratic government, I wouldn't feel such a sense of doom.  But, being the authoritative government it is, squelching free speech,  encroaching in its people's lives, and running the country with a steel hand, I do fear for our country and its democratic ideals.  I don't wish to march to the beat of a Chinese drum. 

It is high time our politicians and our government stop playing and toying around with something as important as the national debt and get serious about starting to pay it off.  At this point, we will probably have this debt for the rest of my natural lifetime.  I don't know if it can ever, realistically, be paid off, but bringing it down would be a good start. It also is no use pointing fingers and casting blame any more as to why we have the debt.  It is now time for action:

1.  Our country needs to grow jobs.  We need to put people back to work in some type of job program. A job program similar to the WPA  of the l930"s,  but geared for the 21st Century, would put many of the 15% of the unemployed (the TRUE percentage of unemployed in this country) back to work.  If that happened there would be money flowing in to households that could then spend some to give our economy the jolt it needs.  This is everyone's responsibility to come up with such a program - the president, the congress, the economists,  and the business world.  Once the economy is back on track and private industry is hiring more employees, the government program could be scaled back.

2.    The banks and private industry need to stop hoarding money and infuse some of it into our economy.   Banks need to lend more money, but lend it responsibly and private industry needs to use its surplus of money to become more innovative which in turn could create more jobs.  The stalemate we are at would end.  This can be done slowly as a work up process.

3.    Taxes need to be raised first, on the extremely wealthy citizens and extremely wealthy corporations, and then even on the middle class if need be. No more tax abatements should be given out to companies.  All Americans need to be part of the solution of bringing in more money for the government to run on.  Of course, no one wants their taxes raised, but for the good of the country, everyone, at some point, will need to pay more taxes.   If the government doesn't bring in more money, the debt just grows.

4.    Yes, of course, we need to make cuts in our country's budget.  Government doesn't have to be as big as it has grown.  But, let's not make cuts in the budget that affects our most vulnerable citizens in our country.
Yes, there is waste in the entitlement programs:  Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.  Let's tighten up those programs and get rid of the waste and corruption and bureaucratic mess these programs have become.
Let's reform them, but let's not get rid of them all together.  They are the safety nets our citizens need and as a democratic government, we should have empathy for our fellow citizens, not the attitude "I've got mine, too bad if you don't have yours."  Everybody's personal circumstances are different. We do not want to become a nation of haves and have nots. 

To accomplish all this will take time, thought, insight, compassion, understanding, and that dreaded word, compromise.  Can our government rise to the occasion?  Will our government rise to the occasion?  We are at a crossroads in our country's economic and  democratic history.  Will we succeed or fail in charting the correct road in history for our country to take?

Disappointment

What do you do when someone you love and care about has disappointed you?  I feel lost and alone and helpless.  There is nothing I can do.  I have tried to reach out, but I have been rejected each time.  I'm not angry, just disappointed.  There is a difference.  This is someone I care about deeply and respect and I guess that is the reason for the huge disappointment.  If I didn't care there would be no disappointment or no difference.  I can't control another person's behavior, only mine.  But, I can't believe I have reached out and have been ignored.  For two people who were suppose to be friends, this is a fine conundrum to be in.

I guess if there can be no communication, there can be no real friendship.  Perhaps that is what I am mourning now.  The death of a friendship - one that meant a lot to me - but, apparently not to him.  I guess I shall go through the grieving process and eventually come to terms with it somehow.  But a death of something is a loss that never really goes away.  A vestige of it always remains.  It is not something I will ever "get over."  Perhaps the root of the disappointment is that we never really were friends at all.  Although he told me we were, perhaps he didn't know what friendship really was.  I took him at his word.   Perhaps I should have read between the words and the lines.  May be he only has interests and not truly friends.  Perhaps there was more mis-communication than communication during our "friendship," and now I'm left disappointed, bewildered, and confused.  Perhaps . . . 

Beginning Blog

WOW!  This is exciting for me.  I have finally set up my very own blog and I can say whatever I want to on any subject area.  I have been wanting to do this for some time now, and I have finally figured out how to do it.  I am new to blogging and to social networks on the Internet, so I make a lot of mistakes.  I don't always know exactly what I am doing, but I hope a future audience out there will help me. 

The title of my blog, Suzette Says: is, of course, a little bit vain, but simply put, it does say what I will be doing.  This blog will be about my very own opinions, comments, insights, and content of whatever is going on in my mind at the moment.  To have an outlet such as this to express myself is a dream come true.

Here is a little about myself.  I am a recently retired Spanish/English teacher who has rewired.  I am dipping my big toe in the ocean of freelance writing and photography.  I know there is a lot of competition out there, but I hope to make a small mark somewhere with my writing.  I have always wanted to try writing and the invention of blogs makes it easier to do than publishing books.  (Although, publishing a book would be a great thing to do someday )

After teaching grammar, composition, and literature in two languages (English & Spanish), I'd like to try my own talents at this writing thing now.  In college, many years ago, I was told by my professors that I had a little bit of writing talent, but, at the time, I never took it seriously.  Now is the time to take it seriously and see what I can do with it.  I have done some traveling in this world and that has added to my outlook and perspective of the world.  I have lived in Mexico, Spain, and Germany, traveled all over Europe, and the Caribbean and I know I have a very western view of the world.  Someday, I do hope to travel to other places in the world to expand my vision.

I have taught for 30 years, but teaching is not the only thing I am trained in.  I have a MA degree from Kent State University with a concentration in Public Relations, so I have done a bit of writing in my time.  I was fortunate to have my first PR experience at the Ronald McDonald House in Cleveland, OH and that is where I was broken in to the PR world.  It was a great experience and one I treasure even today.  To be able to help children and their families while doing a "job" was a wonderful excuse for "work."  The people I met there have always remained in my heart.  Today, I do a little PR work for the Voices of Naples, a community choir I joined last year in Naples, Florida.  That also is a labor of love, as we "sing for scholarships" for high school vocal music students going on to higher education to study music.  We have raised over $18,000 for student scholarships and we are continuing in this venture.

I winter in Naples, Florida, and hope to permanently live there someday.  The sun, Gulf, beach, and palm trees lull me into relaxation and I do my best thinking on the beach.  That is where a lot of my inspiration for writing comes from.  I enjoy writing fiction and non-fiction short stories which you can read at www.freelanced.com/suzannahwalker.  Check out my portfolio there.

Naples Pier and Beach,  Naples, Florida

If you are wondering about my name, yes, my given name is Suzannah, but my parents gave me the nickname Suzette at birth as I already had an aunt named Sue and a cousin named Susie.  Unique, huh?  And, yes, Suzannah is the correct spelling as it is a family spelling my Grandmother Wolf came up with.  Anymore questions?  If you have any, please fill free to ask in the reader comments section and I encourage you to comment or give your opinion on any blog I write, but be warned, profanity, libel, name calling, and just plain meaness will be expunged.

Well, this is all Suzette Says: today!  Wish me luck!