What is your opinion of the promise to rush into Cuba, as soon as Castro 'kicks the bucket', and establish a democracy? I guess the leading Republican contenders for the presidency don't realize the failure of establishing democracy, U.S. style, in Viet Nam and Iraq.

I'm not an expert on the state of the Cuban people, but it seems to me they are better off under Castro's rule than they were under the U.S. backed dictator that Castro overthrew. This, in spite of the embargo and isolationism imposed on Cuba by the U.S.

Perhaps we should let the Cuban people decide their own political system. It appears that some Eastern European countries were fairly successful in establishing themselves, after the fall of the U.S.S.R., without direct interference or aid from the U.S.

With the second anniversary of the Citizens United decision approaching, this song written by Barbara Joye and performed by Atlanta singer Anita Paycheck is right on.

In his speech last December at Osawatomie KS High School, President Obama cited Theodore Roosevelt's remarks there a century earlier.

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Republican President Theodore Roosevelt served from 1901 to 1909. In 1912, representing the Bull Moose Party, he lost to Woodrow Wilson--the only time a 3rd Party candidate has finished as high as second. Every place I looked, Theodore Roosevelt ranks in the top 10 US Presidents, and in none lower than 6th.

In 2010, 238 participating presidential scholars at Siena College Research Institute concluded: "Teddy Roosevelt had, more than any other president, the 'right stuff,' and tops the collective ranking of a cluster of personal qualities including imagination, integrity, intelligence, luck, background and being willing to take risks." He is one of the four U.S. Presidents honored on Mt. Rushmore.

Roosevelt was an environmentalist. He led in establishing 5 national parks, 18 national monuments, and 150 National Forests. I have little doubt as President today he would work with climate scientists to deal with the reality of global warming. As governor of Kansas, he would demand something beyond pious rhetoric to end mining of the Ogallala. But...

My history as a peace activist started in the late ‘60s when I took part in a five-mile march against the Vietnam War. My history with Stieg Larsson’s character, Lizbeth Salander, dates from January 2010, when my daughter-in-law sent me The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, the first book in the Girl series. I devoured that book. I mourned when I heard that Larsson had died of a heart attack at the too-young age of 49. He left behind a fourth manuscript, which is now tied up in litigation between his partner of many years and his birth family.

Since my first encounter with Lizbeth Salander, I’ve read the second and third books in the series, The Girl Who Played with Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest. The plot of each book carries forward the story of Swedish magazine editor Mikael Blomkvist and Salander. The mystery of Lizbeth’s life unfolds with the plot twists and turns of the books.

There is an issue that is greatly neglected in America. It only receives mention in the press once something tragic has happened, and even then it fades from discussion quickly.

According to estimates by the World Health Organization, the total number of years lost to illness, disability, or premature death within the United States and Canada are caused more by Neuropsychiatric Disorders than any other group.

More than likely, every one of you either has a Mental Health Condition or knows someone who does.

I keep seeing and hearing people argue about those Marines who desecrated the dead bodies of Taliban fighters and whether they are subject to the judgment and standards of those who do not or have not served. People argue as if their service some how excuses them from responsibility for committing an atrocity. I think there is a clear need for us all to step back from this issue and look at it objectively.

Certainly, we are proud of our men and women in uniform.

Certainly, we know that war is a terrible and ugly thing that brings out both the best and the worst in people.

Certainly, war distorts one's world view when that is what they are surrounded with for a long period of time.

Certainly, these few do not represent the U.S. Armed Services as a whole.

However, if we are going to bestow upon these men and women the honors of being leaders, of being some of the best that our nation has to offer, of carrying out the will of this nation in the missions of defense and humanity then we must also hold them to those standards.

Those of us who have volunteered to wear the uniforms of our nation have done far more than just sign a contract. We have stood and swore oaths to our God and to our Country.

A few weeks ago I wrote a blog about It's A Wonderful Life and it got me thinking about Frank Capra. Capra is one of my favorite filmmakers. His films are full of energy and fun, with appealing characters and good humor. When I watch these films, I feel proud of being an American. This was one of the intentions of Frank Capra. Capra made his best films during the Great Depression, during a time of great suffering for many Americans. He wanted his films to show empathy for these common Americans, and he wanted to give these Americans a sense of pride in themselves and their community. Capra and his screenwriters collaborated in films that explored the American Dream at a time when the American Dream had collapsed for many Americans. His movies became a social commentary on those economic and political forces that threatened our American ideals and told his audience to hold together as a community and to help each other.

A family in our neighborhood is facing the New Year without the home they’ve lived in and paid the mortgage on for the past eleven years. This is the fifth family in the past three years to meet such a fate. The people in this neighborhood who lost their houses have jobs and are upstanding citizens just trying to get by.

We live in older neighborhood in Midtown Wichita. Our immediate area comprises a mix of houses, two-story four squares, bungalows, and mansions. In the last few years, five of our close neighbors have lost their houses to foreclosure. The first to go was a single woman who lived next door to us with her two dogs. She had a good job at a nursing home, but when she had to undergo heart surgery, she could no longer do the heavy work her job required. Not old enough for Social Security, she applied for Social Security disability benefits. I tried to find agencies in Wichita that would give her some aid so she could stay in her house. In the end, however, nothing worked out for her and she ended up moving in with her daughter.

We are ‘hell bent for election’. We don’t like welfare, so let’s go for serfdom? Are there no other choices?

The cries and pleading by the wealthy for tax relief is resounding across the political agenda of the Republican party. We must balance the budget, but in no way can it be shared by the wealthy. It must all come from the ‘government welfare’ being doled out to the lazy, inept, poor people. My goodness, some of those people aren’t paying any income tax at all! Never mind that they are not paying for medical attention, shelter, or food. Why not? Because they don’t have any money, that’s why! Oh yes, there are a few who just plain won’t work, regardless of the wages. Some are disabled. But the vast majority of those on welfare are, in fact, employed.. But, the wages are so low they can’t make ends meet. Why are the wages so low? It couldn’t possibly be because the employers want higher profits? But, they don’t want to pay any taxes to subsidize those lazy bums who are not willing to work for less than living wages. The truth is, right now, the middle class are paying a higher percent of their net incomes than the wealthy folks, and thus they are subsidizing the big companies and corporations. The big boys get high profits and the middle sized boys pay taxes to make up for the inadequate wages of the poor folks. So, who then should be paying more taxes? Well, I guess it must be the middle income folks, whoever they are. They can take care of themselves and maybe if they have a little compassion, they’ll help their less fortunate neighbors. But, let’s not narrow the chasm between the top 1% and the 99% below them.

Christmas is not Christmas for me until I watch "It's A Wonderful Life" at least once during the holiday season. "It's A Wonderful Life" is one of the great heartwarming films that film director Frank Capra made during the 1930s and 1940s. This film, as is most of Frank Capra's films, is a paen to the spirit of altruism and community that Capra felt was at the heart of the American spirit. Capra though is not blind to the dark side of this American vision, as he also shows the cost of this altruistic philosophy on the main character of "It's A Wonderful Life", George Baily, on his unfulfilled personal dreams and the burdens and personal sacrifices of serving the community and fighting for the greater good. "It's A Wonderful Life" was made in 1946, when the United States went through a decade and a half period of economic depression and a world war. This period of economic suffering and world conflict has special relevance to the Occupy Wall Street movement, as these protests also reflect the worries of a country going through economic uncertainty at home and hostile forces abroad. "It's A Wonderful Life" is the last of Frank Capra's meditations on the American myth, and it has lessons that are relevant to the Occupy Wall Street movement today.

Whether you believe in the Biblical creation story, as absolutely literal in time and sequence, or the theory of evolution, which has many varied time lines and sequences, WE HAVE A PROBLEM!

Recorded history indicates man was entirely at the mercy of nature, until he began developing tools and learning to alter his environment. Evidence clearly shows that the 'human species' has been far superior to the other species of life in the ability to advance. History also records evidence of man making terrible mistakes along the way. Environmental destruction of natural plant and animal life has made some areas that once were lush and flourishing into desolate deserts and wasteland. Conflict within families, between tribes or communities, and nations has resulted in annihilation or enslavement of people.

We have a significant number of people who, seemingly today, believe that man can not alter his environment. Are they ignoring evidence to the contrary? Man was very limited in his ability, in pre-historic time, to make any big impacts beyond his local environs. But, as he began building on previous discoveries and man made changes and developed new and more powerful tools, he was able to progress further and faster.

The Christmas season has always been a time to be with family members and close friends for me. This year especially, it's a time to rest and recover from a lingering cold. It's also a time for me to reflect and think of the birth of Jesus and to think about this Christian church that I've called my home for all of my life. I first became passionate about my faith when I was fourteen years old, when I was taking my confirmation classes in a Roman Catholic church. I would read books and articles about Vatican II, St. Francis and an itinerant Jewish preacher named Jesus who lived two thousand years ago and preached a message of loving God and loving our neighbors. Since that time, I've attended several churches from several different denominations and have had wonderful experiences and some painful conflicts. These various experiences have given me a love/hate relationship with Christianity, as I've strugged with the church's various contradictions, as well as my own personal struggles and doubts about God. Yet I still feel it is important to go to church and I still consider myself a Christian.

Is there no answer to the inequities of life? Is it acceptable to just say, ‘That’s life, get tough and deal with it’? Does ‘culture’ have any bearing on our attitude? If so, what is our culture?

I just read an account of Pvt. Danny Chen’s experience and how he chose to end his frustration and the pain of living. Some of the comments following that account were quite alarming and some were quite encouraging. We don’t know the full story, but my years of living tell me that he was not alone in his inability to survive the atrocities that man is prone to inflict on his fellowman. Can anyone of us, in good conscience, declare that he, Pvt. Chen, alone was responsible for the events that led up to his decision to end his life like he did?

Only nineteen posts from seven authors over the past couple months isn’t very good or impressive. With fifty some registered authors, we are not a very prolific group of writers. Do we not have any social, religious, or political issues, any more?

National election is less than twelve months away. The economy, though improved some, is still a major concern for many. Political unrest around the world is an open area for discussion. We all have negative views on somethings and we should all have some positive views on something. How about sharing them?

Tis the season! What’s the season? It’s the season that motivates all the arguments about proper salutations. It’s the season that merchants hope to make up for the slow economy of the past seasons and years. It’s the season that some hope to reclaim their dominance in setting agendas and controlling the content of programs to celebrate the season. It’s the season that mental and social professionals tell us more people suffer depression than at any other time in the year. (How sad that is!!!) All the bitter battles over whether it’s ‘Merry Christmas’ or ‘Happy Holiday’, a ‘Christmas Tree’ or a ‘Holiday Tree’, whether any particular group has absolute ownership of a particular day, whether we’ll sing my choice of songs or your choice of songs, or all the other battles that rage on don’t benefit any of us.

Christopher Hitchens died Thursday from complications related to whiskey and cigarettes.

I followed the progression of his mortal illness in the same way I followed his many arguments and criticisms: whenever I came across something he wrote, I read it. In the last year, almost everything I read by Hitchens was about his gruesome, losing battle with throat cancer. With his death approaching, Hitchens was aware that many people were not reading the articles as much as they were just slowing down to get a glimpse of something horrible trapped in highway wreckage. He had enraged quite a few by writing about religion the way he did. If Hitchens was not going to recant on his deathbed to their satisfaction, at least they could assure themselves he was already beginning to writhe in hell.

In those last encounters with his work, I sensed that Hitchens was writing to those who understood him to be, at least on one level, a journalist covering the contemporary experience of death. His final reporting was filed from a combat zone near oblivion, and the deadline was unrelenting.

In the past couple of weeks, I've been following the local Occupy Wall Street movements that have sprouted up in the area. About fifty miles to the north, Occupy San Francisco and Occupy Oakland have been causing big news with their clashes with the police and their large scale protests. I've been participating with protests closer to home, donating food to the Occupy San Jose encampment, and joining rallies in Occupy Palo Alto and Occupy Mountain View. I've been a fervent follower of the Occupy Wall Street protests because I share their fears about the growing economic inequalities in this country and agree with their criticisms of the financial institutions. As the holiday season gets underway, a perenniel Christmas chestnut is playing across the nation's playhouses and schools and it shares the same criticisms of economic injustice as the Occupy Wall Street protests. Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol" shares with the Occupy Wall Street protests an indignation of economic injustice and asks us to help relieve the plight of the victims of our economic system.

The Saturday, Dec. 10, 2011, issue of the Wichita Eagle carried a small news item about a few New York cops who, working overtime, earned close to two and half million dollars a year. My husband, who once taught public school as I did most of my working life expressed outrage that these cops would earn that much money guarding bridges, The Port Authority, tunnels, and other New York sites.

My response to him was that I think public servants should be paid at least as well as stock brokers and other financial advisers, most of whom spend their work days playing with other people’s money. I have nothing against people who go into that profession. Before my 401k went down the drain, right after George W. Bush took office, I sent my money to a financial adviser who did well for me and who was an extremely nice person. Why, though, are stock brokers so much more valuable to our social welfare than the public servants who keep our streets safe or teach our children?