Saturday will mark the 4th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. I've been thinking about the things I was doing and the feelings I had while we watching the weather reports.
BK (before Katrina), hurricanes to me were a source of fascination and wonder. They still are but now it is tempered by the knowledge of the great destructive powers hurricanes can hold.
If I remember correctly, I had my son mow the grass and at work, I started planning the times I would begin making computer backups.
I remember going out to take photos after work and there was this sense of urgency to take photos of everything along the beach front. It was an urgency I didn't heed.
Who could imagine everything being wiped away?
I remember the dreams I had before Katrina hit. Nightmares really of a red sky and howling winds. Having been through Frederick, Georges, and other hurricanes that came at night, I knew the skies are usually very dark with an eery glow. The glow seems to speak of the awesome power of the hurricane.
Little did I know the awesome power Hurricane Katrina was set to unleash upon the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
Showing posts with label Personal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Personal. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Friday, October 31, 2008
Shira the Bookkeeper
John McCain has latched onto Joe the Plumber and now Tito the Builder to buttress the lies that Obama's 'spread the wealth' statement is somehow Socialist when it reality it is nothing more than a progressive tax. Sarah Palin has stated: "And Alaska we're set up, unlike other states in the union, where it's collectively Alaskans own the resources. So we share in the wealth when the development of these resources occurs." She used the word collectively and the phrase 'share the wealth'. Can I now accuse her of being a Communist since she used the word collectively? Or is she is a Socialist because she used the phrase 'share the wealth'? Share the wealth is not much different from spread the wealth.
Seventeen years ago I fled from a brutal husband. I had nothing more than an Associates Degree, a job, a car, and a child to support. I took advantage of Section 8 housing out of necessity. Doing so, I was able to save on both electricity and housing costs. I also benefited from the Earned Income Tax Credit during those early years. Now some may consider the programs I mentioned as Socialist. But the end result proves them wrong. Even though I didn't pay Federal income taxes, I was still a tax payer. I paid taxes for Social Security and Medicare. I paid state income tax and sales tax. I paid property taxes on my vehicle. I paid Federal taxes on my phone bill.
What those programs did was allow me to regroup at a time when at the end of the week I was lucky to have $2.00 left in my checking account. I did not receive aid for families with dependent children, nor did I receive food stamps or benefit from Medicare. There has only been two times in my life when I had to use food stamps. The first was when I lost my job and the second was after Hurricane Katrina.
I'm one of those who also benefited from programs set-up to help people like me to buy homes. Through FHA, I was able to purchase an affordable home and Mississippi helped with the down payment. Because of that, I now pay property taxes.
Over the years, because of the programs I benefited from, my income steadily increased and I've moved up two tax brackets since then.
If those programs had not been there, I couldn't say what would have happened to me and my son. But they were there and they are set-up to help people like me.
Obama's tax plan is similar. It seeks to help ease the tax burden on those whose taxable income is less than $250,000 move up so that in the end they can too can moan and groan about the taxes they have to pay.
Call it Socialism if you like, but it seems it is more an investment in our country's future. The more people are able to move up into the middle class, the better off our country will be. I and millions of others like me, are not looking for a handout. We're looking for a hand-up and that is what those so-called Socialist programs have done.
Seventeen years ago I fled from a brutal husband. I had nothing more than an Associates Degree, a job, a car, and a child to support. I took advantage of Section 8 housing out of necessity. Doing so, I was able to save on both electricity and housing costs. I also benefited from the Earned Income Tax Credit during those early years. Now some may consider the programs I mentioned as Socialist. But the end result proves them wrong. Even though I didn't pay Federal income taxes, I was still a tax payer. I paid taxes for Social Security and Medicare. I paid state income tax and sales tax. I paid property taxes on my vehicle. I paid Federal taxes on my phone bill.
What those programs did was allow me to regroup at a time when at the end of the week I was lucky to have $2.00 left in my checking account. I did not receive aid for families with dependent children, nor did I receive food stamps or benefit from Medicare. There has only been two times in my life when I had to use food stamps. The first was when I lost my job and the second was after Hurricane Katrina.
I'm one of those who also benefited from programs set-up to help people like me to buy homes. Through FHA, I was able to purchase an affordable home and Mississippi helped with the down payment. Because of that, I now pay property taxes.
Over the years, because of the programs I benefited from, my income steadily increased and I've moved up two tax brackets since then.
If those programs had not been there, I couldn't say what would have happened to me and my son. But they were there and they are set-up to help people like me.
Obama's tax plan is similar. It seeks to help ease the tax burden on those whose taxable income is less than $250,000 move up so that in the end they can too can moan and groan about the taxes they have to pay.
Call it Socialism if you like, but it seems it is more an investment in our country's future. The more people are able to move up into the middle class, the better off our country will be. I and millions of others like me, are not looking for a handout. We're looking for a hand-up and that is what those so-called Socialist programs have done.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Essentials
These are the following books on my summer reading list:
The Essential Talmud by Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz
Crossing the Narrow Bridge by Chaim Kramer
The Israel-Arab Reader by Walter Laqueur and Barry Rubin
Everyman's Talmud by Abraham Cohen
From Time Immemorial by Joan Peters
I'm concurrently reading The Essential Talmud and From Time Immemorial. This is in addition to reading the weekly Torah portion and commentaries ranging from those at Orthodox sites to those at Conservative sites. I'm also trying to learn Hebrew. Sounds like a lot. In reality, it energizes me. And yet, at times, I feel as though I'm not really focusing on the direction I aught to be going.
I've been thinking a lot more about the first rabbi that guided me on my journey home to Judaism. She is a Reform rabbi and she saw something I wasn't willing to concede to myself. She suggested perhaps I would prefer to go Orthodox. But I'm still hesitant about it. I suppose it is fear.
Would I be discouraged from studying like I do now? How would I like being behind that curtain, hidden away? And what about clothing?
Like Miriam in her post at A Simple Jew, Question & Answer With Miriam Woelke, I'm a jeans and pants woman.
Like her, for now, I'm content. I like being able to participate as an equal in my congregation's Torah study. I like making aliya. There is something so intrinsic when I stand there and make the blessings and then hear the Torah being read. There is something intrinsic in wrapping myself in the talit as I pray Sacharit. And I do not want to give those up. These are essential to me.
The Essential Talmud by Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz
Crossing the Narrow Bridge by Chaim Kramer
The Israel-Arab Reader by Walter Laqueur and Barry Rubin
Everyman's Talmud by Abraham Cohen
From Time Immemorial by Joan Peters
I'm concurrently reading The Essential Talmud and From Time Immemorial. This is in addition to reading the weekly Torah portion and commentaries ranging from those at Orthodox sites to those at Conservative sites. I'm also trying to learn Hebrew. Sounds like a lot. In reality, it energizes me. And yet, at times, I feel as though I'm not really focusing on the direction I aught to be going.
I've been thinking a lot more about the first rabbi that guided me on my journey home to Judaism. She is a Reform rabbi and she saw something I wasn't willing to concede to myself. She suggested perhaps I would prefer to go Orthodox. But I'm still hesitant about it. I suppose it is fear.
Would I be discouraged from studying like I do now? How would I like being behind that curtain, hidden away? And what about clothing?
Like Miriam in her post at A Simple Jew, Question & Answer With Miriam Woelke, I'm a jeans and pants woman.
Like her, for now, I'm content. I like being able to participate as an equal in my congregation's Torah study. I like making aliya. There is something so intrinsic when I stand there and make the blessings and then hear the Torah being read. There is something intrinsic in wrapping myself in the talit as I pray Sacharit. And I do not want to give those up. These are essential to me.
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