The Price of Free Drinks

   Why is it that what society recognizes so readily in one industry it refuses to see in another? Many good people are aware that the street drug dealers often give away product to entice new or reluctant clients to those habits. We see this for what it is and consider it to be one of the ills of their trade. It's a form of preying on the the addicted in our neighborhoods, especially when they are vulnerable and often trying hard to stay clean. For this reason, if we were to assess a sin tax to drugs it would be wiser to tax the product at wholesale rather than at retail, for that is where most of the actual sin is taking place. The drug dealer is not ill, as is the addict. The dealer is greedy and makes his money taking advantage of the ill.

   By the same token, it seems that a sin tax on alcohol would work better at the wholesale level rather than the retail. Alaska is reported at some of the highest tax rates on alcohol in the country, yet we see little evidence of the money helping the peoples situation. Many alcoholics work in the industry for their access to alcohol, just as a drug addict may work for the dealer. If licensees were taxed at wholesale instead of at retail, in my opinion, it would eliminate a lot of loose or free alcohol in between. However we have been taxing has not helped the people of this state, only the wholesalers.

Best and Worse of Years in One

   It's been decades since I've seen my country in this much social turmoil.
   Like a lot of others, I had those high hopes for change several years ago, but those hopes have long since been dashed. This man of such Nobel peace that I thought he had the potential of bringing all our nation together abandoned the ideology of forward thinking that, in my opinion, brought him to office. He let valuable time pass without addressing himself to the upcoming youth of our country. Had he been as aggressive in that area as I had hoped at the time, I like to imagine he may well have inspired many of todays young men in such a timely fashion that a particular child of yesterday did not grow to the age he did, only to be shot down in the streets of Ferguson, MO in the manner he did this past year.
   Despite that, my own state appears to have made some great strides towards the respect we would think all peoples garnered. My once choice for Governor is instead the Lt. Governor, with a position to make a difference in all our lives. Our new Governor has made some key appointments in departments that have an enormous effect on the quality of life of so many Alaskans, like Health and Social Services and Corrections. Last year also saw a new Director appointed to the Alcohol Beverage Control agency that seems not to be a mere figurehead. She apparently understands that documentation is not enforcement. Documentation does not save lives, enforcement does. Between that agency and the aforementioned two departments alone, what an impact these appointments have on our society. For starters, perhaps we can stop treating "those people" worse than we treat "those animals" in our society.

Thanks to Grandmothers everywhere.

   Choose respect are simple words that reflect simple thoughts. If I respect you and you respect me, why should there ever be violence in the domestic relationships? Because people don't respect themselves. More importantly, they reflect their lack of self-respect to others that they encounter on a daily basis, leaving themselves wide open to disrespect. If you respect self and others, you cannot turn away from this subject, but must address it on the spot, every day, until it is no more.

   Whenever the news reports about some very important public person, who controls the purse strings of other important public persons, changed their mind drastically in an extremely short amount of time regarding very public subjects, I like to imagine a private dressing down of that someone by someone else whom they respect, perhaps their own grandmother.

A watched pot never boils.

   I hear that currently 42% of my fellow Alaskan's were born in this mighty state. Most of those that I know fall into two categories, those that travel outside on occasion and those who don't. It seems to me that those who don't, have a much different outlook on their surroundings. Because they don't, they have no way to know how the rest of the world is moving, how progressive minds are changing the world around them. They think what they see around them is it.

   It reminds me of the old saying, a watched pot never boils. May I suggest that you take your eyes off the pot you know so well, focus on something different and learn what you can about it. It opens your mind up to so many things simmering right in front of you that you had not recognized before.

As man plans, God laughs!

   Whenever I hear the phrase 'the devil is in the details', I think, sometimes out loud, that God is in the timing. It seems to me that the more details that mankind tries to manipulate for it's own interest, the more God makes His will known above ours by interfering with those plans, as only He can. 

   One of the strongest pieces of evidence we often see is when He puts just the right person in just the right spot in our lives, at just the right time to save us from distress. Timing of this nature is out of the realm of the devil, much less that of mankind. Often times, we may refer to this person as our guardian angel, for lack of a better description. Some of us have experienced this many times in our lives, and have been ever so thankful for them. Some of us wouldn't give it the thought.

   If you have experienced this and never gave it a thought, thinking instead that it was yourself that made something happen, then you have missed the opportunity to observe God's works in action in your own life and those surrounding you. Only God brings us together for good works.

Please, leave someone else in peace.

   Having grown up with a single mother for many years, a common phrase in our house was "As long as they're talking about me, they're leaving somebody else alone". When I did finally 'get it' as a child, I had taken it to mean that my mother felt she could carry that load which would seem a burden to many others among her peers. Having grown quite a bit since then, I began to see the deeper value in that simple gesture. What she was doing was distracting the scandalous talk in town from those she felt mercy on, that is to say, the other women of the day who had it worse than she did. She was ever thankful for what she had in life. 

   As my mother did before me, I, too, remain thankful for what I have and, often times, for what I don't have. The fact that people talk so much about things they know not, we cannot stop. We can be aware that we are doing a great service for others by simply distracting evil doers and their scandalous talk. So, please, if you read this, go out and talk about me, and leave someone else in peace.

Ashes to Ashes

   In the recent past I had begun to notice the proliferation of crematories in our state, or at least their advertising. Being a low maintenance person myself, my first thought was perhaps this was good for our society.  Why spend so much on the materialistic trappings of a funeral?

   What I didn't realize about the situation became abundantly clear recently when dealing with a crematory concerning a family member whose ashes went to a girlfriend rather than his children or his present wife of thirty plus years. Apparently they judged that his family would not carry out his final wishes of disposal and there is no regulation that prevented them from doing so. Make no mistake, the mother, son and daughter-in-law we faced off against in this Anchorage crematory not only were quick to point out that they had done no wrong, but when asked about any governing regulations they had to adhere to, they responded there were none, and they seemed proud of that fact.

   More perplexing was that within an hour the family run crematory we were dealing with did an about face and produced the ashes they had so quickly defended themselves against having mishandled.

   The best take away that I can find here is if any person you care about mentions using a crematory, urge them to carefully select one that will treat all aspects of the process with reverence for the sanctity of the deed.