Why So Many Oppose Health Care Reform Wednesday, Nov 11 2009

10^th of November 2009

WHY SO MANY ARE AGAINST US HEALTH CARE REFORM

I have received a number of comments, complaints and outright harsh responses to the multiple posts I’ve made encouraging Health Care Reform within the United States.  It is amazing what rhetoric is being disseminated via political party lines.  The Republican Party vehemently opposes providing medical coverage to all US citizens and vicariously sits back while millions of us suffer without the ability to see a doctor for our ailments.

The Republican Party does not want a government run health care option.  So my question is who the hell do they think will provide medical coverage for those without benefits?  They seem to believe that the Insurance companies will suddenly develop a conscience as they provide insurance for those who go without?  I doubt even they believe that Insurance providers would suddenly offer to cover those who can’t afford normal coverage.  Not when those same insurance companies have policies in place that automatically deny a certain percentage of claims in an effort to retain more revenues.  I know what I’m talking about because I worked for several insurance companies in the medical and automotive areas.  They have teams of staffers who figure how much they can save by denying claims when they know only twenty-two percent of those claims will be appealed or challenged.  They know exactly how much money they save, so how could we ever think that the companies who hire people just to find new ways to screw over their paying customers would actually find it within their hearts to provide coverage for the unemployed, the homeless or the under-employed.

My roommate is a Republican and is diametrically opposed to the socialist medical coverage (as he calls it).  Even though he knows that I was very sick just a couple months ago with the H1N1 Flu and after almost a week of running a fever, I had to find a doctor that would see me given that I am not currently working.  I completed all of the proper paper work as an unemployed person and was told how my office visit would be $25 dollars.  I thought, wow, this may actually be okay.  I was to come back eight days later for some test and due to my limited funds, I called to find out how much the test would cost.  The tests were going to cost between $250 and 350 dollars and I would be responsible for 70% of that costs.  So my unemployment medical coverage cost me $25 dollars for the office visit, $286.18 dollars for prescriptions and then four weeks later I found out just how little my doctor’s visit was going to be when I received a bill for $280.00 dollars in the mail.  The bill was everything I didn’t pay when I paid the $25.00 dollar.  It didn’t matter that during that visit no test were run and nothing but a doctor consultation happened, but this is what a program that is supposed to be funded by the State of Georgia, the US Government and other donations by organizations like United Way are supposed to cost people with no funds like me.

I was only suffering from the H1N1 virus, but what about an elderly couple who is rushed to the hospital because one of them has a heart attack.  The bills wiped out their retirement savings.  Or a mother who has two children and she works two or three jobs just to provide a roof over their heads and food on the table, but cannot afford insurance or regular doctor visits.  However, the Republican Party doesn’t want the government to run health care for all.  I ask again, who do they think will provide medical coverage for those of us who cannot afford such needs!

So would someone in the Republican Party please tell me who they think should run a program that provides insurance and/or medical coverage to those who cannot afford it?  If the government cannot provide such coverage for those citizens, who will…and when will they begin?  I only ask, because while I work out at the gym five times a week and am healthy most of the time, I need to know where I can go the next time I get sick.  Not to mention I would like to spread the word to others that are in need.  My roommate was telling me how lots of people are against a government run medical program and he couldn’t answer when I asked why not.  But you see, neither he nor any other Republicans have the balls to tell me directly or tell that mother and her two children or that elderly couple who we can we turn to for help.

Not one of these Republicans who opposes Health Care Reform has the courage to face these people directly and tell them their lives are not worth the money this country would spend on medical coverage for them.  I’m not talking about Rush Limbaugh; he would tell anyone the worst news they could possibly hear just to see their face as he remains perched from his ivory tower.  I mean it…stand in front of that woman with her two children and tell her how the sixty or seventy hours she works in the two or three jobs just isn’t enough and you won’t help her by providing medical coverage for her or her family.

When I hear an honest and sincere response that can show exactly why this bill is not worthy, then I will change my support of it.  Until then, I will continue to see those who oppose basic human decency – like medical coverage for all, to be those who have never suffered without.  And while I will be happy for you that you have not had to go without, maybe…just maybe your perfect world won’t remain that way for ever.  Think about how some day you may be the elderly couple, or that woman with her children or worst, maybe even unemployed or homeless…and maybe if you have the need you might just see how basic human dignity should be provided to all souls, not just those with means!

Your humble servant – Todd M Dobson

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Health Care for All Tuesday, Nov 10 2009

10^th of November 2009

HEALTH CARE FOR ALL

POLITICS AND RELIGION SHOULD NEVER MIX

It should be very telling when the Insurance Companies in the United States have spent over $10 BILLION dollars lobbying against HEALTH CARE REFORM this year alone.  They are not the only ones with Physician lobbyists also spending more than $4 BILLION dollars lobbying against this nations quest to provide HEALTH CARE for everybody.  Their ardent opposition to providing medical coverage to all citizens of this nation is GREED, when both should care about providing the best care for every soul in this nation.

Fourteen BILLION dollars would provide a huge amount of medical care for those who are unemployed and cannot provide such.  It would also save lives for those who are homeless or even those families where both parents are working multiple jobs and still do not earn enough to provide proper medical coverage for their families.  Yet those who have sworn an oath to provide medical coverage to all fear the loss of their million dollar incomes, so they fight what has shamefully not already been provided in this nation – MEDICAL COVERAGE FOR ALL!  The Insurance Industry needs to be over-hauled in totality because it has not served us the people in many years.  When insurance industry executives do whatever it takes to make their million dollar salaries and billion dollar profit margins it is disgusting.  They do so at the expense of the lives of people who trusted they would be covered for whatever medical needs they have, and yet the Insurance industry plays games with denying their customers claims.

To complicate an already arduous battle, the Roman Catholic Church (as if they have not done enough damage this year alone) decides to enter this political battle.  It doesn’t matter that even Jesus Christ stated that religion is corrupt, politics is corrupt and the intermingling of the two is ABSOLUTE CORRUPTION.  Catholicism only regales those sections of the Bible that serve its needs.  The Catholic Church is after a very old fight, Abortion Rights and this is a tiresome fight with no winning side, but who cares; because the Catholic Church will do whatever they want in order to obtain what they want and how they want it.

I’ve written before about the fight over abortion.  I do understand both sides and they are both RIGHT.  A woman should always have the ability to choose and I do agree with saving every soul that comes into this world.  I just disagree with legislating choice.  I feel education; REAL SEX EDUCATION that works (not the Abstinence ONLY education that the Christian Right demands because they cannot have difficult discussions with their children) is the best means to combat abortion.  Education before someone gets pregnant and after the pregnancy and before the abortion.  If you want to truly impact the number of abortions, you cannot legislate change, you can however change them and that becomes change in a positive way, not a forced change or negative one like what the Roman Catholic Church is trying to do.  No religion should insert itself into this battle over medical coverage for all US citizens.

The Roman Catholic Church needs to withdrawal from this battle for the betterment of all people living within this country.  I know it doesn’t care about ensuring that all living souls have health care, but as with all other issues facing the Catholic Church, remove your ego from the equation and show the goodness within your organization by showing compassion for the millions of people living in this country who need medical coverage.

As for the politicians who have been bought and paid for by the Insurance and Medical communities; SHAME ON YOU!!! Do what is right for the people of this nation by dropping the political games and deliver medical coverage for all.  Find the means to be honorable as opposed to hiding the ill-gotten money paid by those who fear the revenues they may lose.

EVERY PERSON IN THIS NATION DESERVES MEDICAL COVERAGE

Your humble servant – Todd M Dobson

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FEAR and HATE PREVAIL IN MAINE Wednesday, Nov 4 2009

4^th of November 2009

FEAR and HATE PREVAIL IN MAINE

Another shameful night in North America where Christianity planted fear and hatred in the souls of so many…driving a stake into the hearts of LOVE, but unlike what that stake will do to a vampire, it will not vaporize our fight for equality!

The hypocrisy that continues being displayed by religious organizations over their beliefs is astounding.  Religion chooses which verses from their good books they wish to cleave while deciding what they deem as evil.  Right now LOVE and the civil rights of all people to share in that love equally is what Christianity has chosen as the evil shaking the foundations of North America.  It is funny and equally not so funny in that Jesus Christ said in a number of his teachings that what you do to others you also do unto yourself.  By squashing the LOVE that two people share, any two consenting adults share, you are the only ones who disintegrate the love that two heterosexual couples also share.  Not to mention that Corinthians reminds us that the greatest of these is CHARITY.

Unfortunately, religion has not chosen charity as a means to share in LOVE, they have been led by leaders into fear and loathing for reasons that the people themselves are not paying attention too.  The church (all churches, synagogues and temples) make huge sums of money fighting the greatest attackers against the church.  Homosexuality was once as common place across the lands as was marriages that were performed not by religious leaders, but in civil ceremonies led by village, town and city leaders.  This fight for the sanctity of MARRIAGE is ludicrous when unions were performed for thousands of years before religious leaders oversaw them.  Once religion had a large enough world-wide congregations did the people start asking those hallowed men to bless the LOVE of the couple that was just married by a village elder.  The religious leaders that continue to stir congregations against their perceived foe – HOMOSEXUALITY will do anything to perpetuate a fight where none existed before.  Every Sunday sermon where those same fallible men extol the horrors faced by the hideous ranks of homosexuality and how we villainous FAGS can destroy all that God set in motion; their coffers grow exponentially.  It is a common known fact that fear drives more butts into the pews and greater funds out of the wallets of the ones with apprehensions.

In none of this do I find the Charity spoken about in the Bible.  Nor do I understand where such fear derives, given that in the Gay Community, our numbers match closely to those in the remainder of the world.  If ninety-five percent of the world is religiously focused, they must know that our community follows in like numbers.  If that is the case, the majority of us believe in God just as you do.  We are no different than any person within this world.  We are made of flesh and blood with a heart and a soul just like every human sharing this earth.  Using any religious book against another soul does not disseminate the values taught by Jesus Christ, so why are so many religious leaders using homosexuality as the great divide?

The fights in California and in Maine should be teaching the Religious Right that your numbers are diminishing.  The more you try to divide homosexuals from heterosexuals, the more you divide your own congregations.  It speaks far greater of the person (or organization) that preaches LOVE, HONOR and RESPECT as apposed to FEAR and HATRED.  The time is coming when the eyes of all will be open to truth and that legitimacy is that all people upon this planet deserve exactly the same as all other souls.  Attempts to oppress any other group of souls will reflect the darkness within your own hearts for all the world to see.  Regardless of how blessed you feel the world must perceive you, HATE is HATE and LOVE is LOVE; and the world is starting to see truth for what it is and not what you claim it to be!

LOVE IS ALWAYS RIGHT ~ HATE IS ALWAYS WRONG

Your humble servant – Todd M Dobson

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AT&T SCREWING OVER THE CUSTOMER Friday, Oct 30 2009

29^th October 2009

 

 

AT&T IS OUT FOR THEMSELVES – AGAIN

WHO CARES ABOUT THE CUSTOMER

 

 

I live in Lawrenceville, Georgia and it seems this city is a hot bed for the AT&T Corporation.  Fifteen to twenty years ago this city was a burgeoning one that was growing by leaps and bound and Bell South decided this was going to be one of their examples of the new age.  They laid fiber optic from every corner of this city and for the time, it was one of the greatest examples of technology advancements in North America.  The problem became known that as the rest of the world leaped frog Lawrenceville, neither Bell South nor AT&T has updated the equipment to match the expansive data needs of the average household with the residence of this very well established city dragging, just like the AT&T DSL speeds lug.

 

I have many problems with AT&T, but I will focus on this single issue.  I force my roommate to call for AT&T support, because the customer service is so lousy that I will end up yelling at the poor people on the other end of the phone.  I promised myself that I won’t get angry like that any longer, so I force him to call for lousy support and given his normally calm nature, I laugh when he gets frustrated and starts to get angry.  He always use to tell me that no one can be that bad to invoke someone to start yelling at them; however he has a better understanding of why and how their insipid responses may annoy a person.

 

Everyone in Lawrenceville, Georgia is experiencing slowness with their DSL service, especially in the evening and night times when the largest number of people are surfing the internet.  That makes since, but when we pay for a T-1 or 1.5mbps rate for our DSL service and AT&T delivers 138kbps starting around 6:00 PM every evening, there becomes a problem.  For more than six months we’ve been calling AT&T Support requesting our issues to be addressed, only to hear that the problem is on our side.  Well my twenty-three years of technology background knew that it wasn’t, but you still have to jump through their hoops before they will escalate the call to a level two support person or even a supervisor.

 

We’ve had countless people come out to the house and none of them would tell us what we heard today.  Finally we received an answer that makes since…AT&T has been receiving for the past year, hordes of complaints and loosing customers due to this very DSL issue, but they won’t resolve the problem until first or second quarter of 2010.  The way AT&T is correcting the issues felt by so many over this year, is to push all of these customers that are experiencing such horrible slowness in their DSL lines, by forcing them to migrate onto their new U-VERSE platform.  The problem is that if they won’t resolve problems that they’ve known about for years, why would any of us want to remain with them and pay more for a new platform?  On top of migrating everyone over to this new more costly platform, they expect us to pay for more services by them by offering bundled services like Cable Television, DSL and Phone services all through a single connection.  Are we supposed to believe that if we receive the same type of issues with U-Verse that we have with DSL that we then loose all of our modern functionality as apposed to right now just loosing a single function?  Not to mention, to bundle more services with the same company that has been screwing us for the past year and expecting to get away with it because they are so large?  Why would any company think that this type of service would result in customers that want to remain with them?

 

The reason AT&T continues to think that this type of behavior is okay, is because they’ve been doing this to customers for years.  They not only expect that they can continue to charge us for top rated speeds with our DSL Service and not provide what we’re paying for; or that they can screw thousands of households in an entire city and tell them they have to deal with subordinate services until next year because they keep doing it time and time again.  But I have instructions for every household in Lawrenceville, Georgia and around North America; if AT&T is pulling the same type of disrespect on you, go to http://www.fcc.gov and file a complaint against the Telecom Giant and stand before Goliath with your sling with confidence that you do have a chance against a MONSTER who cares little about you (a simple number).

 

The problem is when companies like AT&T get to be as large as they are, they loose sight of the reasons they are in business…and it’s not because of shareholders and profits margins…its about the people we call CUSTOMERS!  All of the large corporations in North America need us, the customers, but they have staffs filled with number crunchers who tell them they can loose X number of customers every day and every month because they will receive X number in exchange.  That may very well be true, but I would rather work at a company that isn’t the largest, but makes a decent profit every year and CARES ABOUT THEIR CUSTOMERS while they provide their services or products.  Greed isn’t about wanting to make money, it’s when a board of directors and shareholder expectations go beyond what is in the best interest of the ones you serve.

 

If you think you are experiencing issues with your DSL speed or want to find out what your internet speeds is, you may use any of the following links:

http://speakeasy.net

http://speedtest.net

http://helpme.att.net

http://www.digitallanding.com/high-speed-internet/

When you run any of these test sites, you will have two speeds listed: a download speed (this is everything that you do on the internet, surfing any site like facebook.com or myspace.com, downloading files, video, streaming music or playing internet games) and then there is an upload speed (this is the speed for when you up load any file or data to the internet, computer or network).  The download speed will be the faster of the two numbers, or should be.  We’ve had cases where we measured a download speed and it shows to be lower than the upload speed and that is just atrocious, but par for the course for the service with AT&T.  The upload speed will vary based on what you’re paying for, but in our case we pay for a direct fiber optic line from the CO (green box with all of the phone and DSL connections in your neighborhood) and we are guaranteed at least 1.5kbps or 1500kbps.  Your service may be less than that, so it is prudent that you call and ask your provider for what speed ratings you should be receiving.

 

The upload speed will only be in the 300kbps range and we normally see our average around 250kbps.  There are times when we measure spike upwards of the high 3XXkbps.  Again it would be prudent for you to question your service provider to ascertain what speed you should see on a regular basis.  It is common to see some fluxation in these speed test based on times of higher usage.  Think about it with common sense and when everybody in your neighborhood, town or city is home and surfing the Internet; then lines may be slower during those times as apposed to when everyone is away and few people are surfing the web.

 

Companies like AT&T will continue to abuse us, the customers until we stand up as a collective and tell them, “We won’t take it any longer.”  You do that by filing a grievance against AT&T with the FCC or by taking your business elsewhere.

 

 

Your humble servant – Todd M Dobson

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The Passage of the Matthew Shepard Act Friday, Oct 23 2009

22^nd of October 2009

MATTHEW SHEPARD ACT

THE PASSAGE OF NEW HATE CRIMES LEGISLATION

Today is a truly monumental day for all Homosexuals within the United States.  The United States Senate ratified the Matthew Shepard Act (Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2007) and is sending it to President Obama for his consideration.

This has been a long battle and with the passage of this legislation, we are able to take one step closer to being free individuals graced with the exact same rights, privileges and protections as every other US citizen.  I am ecstatic to report that within the past two weeks, President Obama has said that he will sign this important legislation when it is passed by the Senate.  For those of you who see this as unnecessary, frivolous or wish to perceive this as a special law by a group seeking special inclusion; I would challenge that discernment.

I was a victim of a hate crime, and while I was not physically beaten, the scars are very close to the surface.  What happened to me placed me in a truly unique position in that I was asked to address the Committee on Small Business House of Representatives (104^th Congress Second Session on the 17^th of July 1996) for the ENDA Bill (Employment Non-Discrimination Act).  In doing so I met others who had been beaten, some were presumed to be gay and harassed due to those opinions and others like me who had been harassed and then fired simply because we were gay.

All of the witnesses that shared the podium with me in addressing both Congressional and Representative Leaders share a troubling commonality; other citizens of this country loathed us to the degree of taking action against us.  There is nothing more troubling than to know you are hated by others for something you have no control over.  If you think this law is asking for special rights, then read what Mr. Ernest Dillon, a US Postal Employee from Detroit, Michigan endured!

Mr. Dillon had no overt signs of being gay.  In fact, he stands approximately 6’ 2” with broad shoulders and a strong demeanor.  He carries himself like every other masculine man with no outwardly visible effeminate traits.  He was a notably good employee who received commendations and awards for exceptional service.  Unfortunately, four of his team members did not know, but assumed that Mr. Dillon was a gay man.  They taunted and harassed him for over a year.  Mr. Dillon reported their behavior to supervisors who did nothing to disarm the situation.  By not taking action against the men, they inevitably gave their consent for it to persist.  One evening after work, the four men cornered Mr. Dillon inside a fenced in area protecting the postal vehicles and they beat him.  As they beat him, they continuously yell racial slurs like faggot, queer, girl and many others taunts to ensure Mr. Dillon knew why he was being beaten.  They pounded him so severely that he almost died.

The four men were so smug with their audacious actions that they actually bragged to police and Federal Authorities about kicking the ass of a faggot.  The problem wasn’t that the authorities didn’t want to prosecute the four men; they were arrested and brought up on as many charges that could legally be hoisted upon them.  The problem is that there was no Federal Law that these men broke in thrashing one of their own on Federal property.  Had they taken action off of Postal property, the local police could have prosecuted them, however the brutality of their actions was done on Federal land and therefore it was a Federal matter, to be prosecuted by Federal Laws.  The quandary was, that there are no Federal Laws that protected Mr. Dillon, or the countless people like him or me from the actions of those who must HATE instead let live.

The Federal Judge sequestered himself for the better part of a day searching for anything that he could use against these four men who so shamelessly beat another life due to their own perceptions.  In his degust and on the record, the Judge stated that in an effort to find any law in which to imprison the four men before him, but to his surprise he was unable to find anything with which he could use against those men.  They walked out of the Federal Courthouse free of any charges and were able to even keep their jobs as postal workers.

Mr. Dillon received no justice for the crimes committed against him and neither did I.  My situation was no where close to that suffered by Mr. Dillon, and if you consider there to be solace in that The Thomson Corporation was forced to spend over one million dollars fighting my law suit against them for illegally firing me because I was gay; then you might be happy.  I can tell you that there is no amount of money that can remove the pain and harm caused by those individuals who harassed me for months trying to get me to leave that job.  When I would no leave, they eventually trumped up ridiculous charges and fired me.  I only found out after I lost the law suit that the law firm hired to fight me cost Thomson over seven hundred thousand dollars.  The second chair counsel person was vicious against me during depositions, because as a lesbian she thought I was frivolously suing a good company.  However, when she found proof that I was right and Thompson was covering up their sad ineptness, she became extremely sick and vigorously tried to get off my case.  She didn’t want to pursue the second chair against me, but was forced to continue as originally selected to do.  I later was told by a woman who would know the following facts, that she received weekly reports for a team of private investigators who followed me 24 x 7 for over five years to dig up any dirt on me that could be used to smear me during my law suit against them.

This law will make the acts from those four men who beat and nearly killed another man because they perceived him to be gay, against the law.  Their actions were brought about because he was a soft spoken man who didn’t act like a thug from the streets.  This law may not protect me against companies like the Thomson Corporation (Thomson Financial, Thomson Publishing, Information Access Company, Lord Thomson’s Publishing Empire and Thomson Media…) from their outright rape of an employee due to that person’s sexual orientation, but it is a great step forward in protecting the innocent against those who hate us simply because we are gay.

Stand with me in applauding the tireless efforts of Mr. and Mrs. Shepard, who have fought for this bill after the loss of their son, Matthew who was brutally beat and left for dead with the lights of Laramie, Wyoming off in the distance.  The two men who planned to rob the defenseless fag might have stopped their actions at theft if this law had been enacted before Matthew lost his life in such a heinous way.

Stand with me in applauding the work of all the men and women who have suffered at the hands of such insufferable people.  Stand with me in applauding the men and women who have been fighting for the passage of this bill since before the Stonewall Riots.

LOVE IS NEVER WRONG ~ HATE IS NEVER RIGHT

You humble servant – Todd M Dobson

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The Respect for Marriage Act Monday, Oct 19 2009

19^th of October 2009

THE RESPECT FOR MARRIAGE ACT

The Respect for Marriage Act is a great step forward, but it is not the answer that it is being tallied by Gay Right’s Activist.  This bill would only repeal the Federal DOMA and would give the ability for people living in states that voted for changes to their State Constitutions a right to file for unconstitutionality of any state DOMA that was enacted.

Please be aware this is the step that we need to get behind and support.  If Respect for Marriage is passed, it would be the wedge that could be used to turn every state that approved by a majority, the changes in that state’s constitution by defining Marriage as “the union between one man and one woman” as unlawful.  This is a great step in the right direction, but it will not be the instant gratification that gays and lesbians around the United States are hoping it will be.

Once The Respect for Marriage bill is passed, then residence within each state that defined marriage in some way excluding the rights of all gay citizens from wedding would then be able to challenge the constitutionality of those changes.  It will not be an the all important answer and there will remain a battle at which many gay men and women will continue to be denied our civil rights to unite with the soul of our choosing.

David Mixner has a very good blog: “Democrats: If You are NOT on This List Then Not One Penny!” that everyone should read.  This is a good organizational effort and not a bad start, but our managerial push must go beyond what Mr. Mixner is requesting.  We do need to garner the support of our friends, family and colleges by writing letters, sending emails and placing phone calls to all of our Representatives and Senators.  We need to make them aware that this bill and their voting on it will be scrutinized and used against them in all upcoming campaigns.  Regardless of party affiliations, we must spread the word, in an organized manner telling all politicians we mean business.  But the numbers are the only thing that will make a difference.

All independent polls show that the majority of US citizen supports the rights of all other citizens and individually do not wish to oppress any other people.  So talk with your neighbors, friends, colleges and branch out in normal conversations to those surrounding you including the continued oppression of the homosexual base as a group overtly being oppressed.  There is a direct stigma associated when another person who is made aware that they are in fact oppressing another soul from experiencing the very rights they think little of.

But our efforts can only begin there.  The power base for the Republican Party is the Religious Right, so we must engage religious leaders speaking directly with them.  Our goal with religious leaders is either to sway them into supporting our cause and not preaching against it, or at the very least to abstain from igniting their followers against us.  Our approach is that the Bible or their religious texts was written to unite their parishioners under the focus of LOVE and not HATE.  By abstaining, they will let their individual followers decide for themselves without in sighting their parishioners against any group of souls.  It is one thing to believe in the words within their religious text, and yet another to propel other souls to do harm against another living soul.  The Bible was never meant to be the bat of God wielded by non-judging souls; but rather a guide by which those who believe should live their individual lives…not used to judge others.

To remain exactly where Mr. Mixner says too, by telling any Democrat that you will not donate to them if they do not support this bill is a baseless treat that carries no weight.  It has been used for years without effect and the reason for that is when you call your Congressperson or Senator, they have databases that tell them your party affiliations and your donation history.  It will mean nothing to them if they see that you don’t regularly donate or that your donations are of small amounts.  They will call your bluff if you are not a political party broker, meaning that you get involved in elections, throw fund raisers or wield some base of power within their party.  So while I applaud Mr. Mixner for spreading the word, his call to arms will not move the people we need to be moving.

As for why Mrs Nancy Pelosi is not listed in Mr. Mixner’s list is because she was taught how to play hard ball politics.  Mrs. Pelosi has tied herself very tightly with the Democratic Party line and to our President.  The President and thereby Mrs. Pelosi are using all Gay Rights Bills as their bat to garner support for the bills that they decide matter to them. We watched President Bill Clinton use the gay community as his bat to in order to garner the support he needed for other bills.  He used us and we paid with Don’t Ask Don’t Tell instead of getting any of what we truly needed from him.  Now President Obama has found that there is no better scare tactic for the other bills that he deems more essential than the threat that he will pass the Repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell or bills such as the Respect for Marriage Act.  You will not receive either President Obama direct support on this issue and neither will we receive Mrs. Pelosi’s.  We need to change how the homosexual vote is tallied, pushing our issues beyond the status of ball bat and up to the status of deliver or we use our organization efforts against you and your political friends.  Until we cause the loss of an elected position, will we never change our perceived threat!

As for Mr. Franks; what a loathsome hypocrite of a man he is.  I know Mr. Franks and was once a constituent of his.  He uses the Gay Agenda for his betterment and in doing so against our interest.  It should be far easier to nail his butt down on the issues, even as scummy as his tongue may be.  The best way to do that is to have something, like pictures of the closest place he frequents.  He used to love the steam room in the Metropolitan Gym in Boston.  During its hay day Mr. Franks would frequent it as the closest thing to a legal Bathhouse that he could find.  He is motivated by dirty sex and you can find him at any of the Washington seedy dive places where sex trade is on the menu.  It shouldn’t be that difficult to corner Mr. Franks in a way that forces him to bring about a sincere reflection of this bill…..and why he has neither supported it nor come out against it.  I would garner a guess that he too is being used as a Washington Power Broker by the White House in gaining support for other initiatives the White House needs to push through.

There is much work that needs to be done and thanks to people in the forefront like Mr. Mixner for spreading the word.  Every gay and lesbian American needs to get involved like we did in the 70’s and 80’s.  If we want to be including at the table of equality, we must stand up against those who wish to oppress us and be counted.  No closet doors and no hiding behind a veil.  We must galvanize our own group and branch out very systematically to all people surrounding us in order to expand their support.  We must be smart about what we do, but we must start by getting involved.  We need to get beyond a fight for our own rights so that we can help to defend the rights for those around the world who are being killed, hanged, castrated and hunted like dogs because those who wish to oppress others, chose the gay and lesbian group as the weaker one as an outlet for their crimes.  We have been at the end of their sword for far too long and the only way out is through organization and follow through.

GAY RIGHTS = CIVIL RIGHTS

LOVE CAN NEVER BE WRONG – HATE IS NEVER RIGHT

Your humble servant – Todd M Dobson

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Would you like to read this book? Monday, Oct 19 2009

Short Synopsis:

The protagonist in our story is your average every day man who grew up under extraordinary circumstances.  He was raised in an abusive household where verbal, physical and later sexual molestation was a daily means of living.  In the face of great oppression by the very souls who were supposed to love and support him, our protagonist made a life for himself away from those he called family.  Our story starts with an earth shattering realization by him during a drive home after a long day at work.  This realization shakes him to his core as it brings with it an awakening of his soul when the one thing he had always longed for, was surrounding him – Love.  He had found the one thing he searched his entire life for and had been enjoying the previous two years upon his realization of the love that was flowing through him.

Love was an illusion that just two years before he had given up on ever finding.  That is why, when he met a soul mate, the earth stood still, the stars did align and the heavens opened him up with an experience that proved to be immensely moving.  Our story tells how he falls in love and how beyond all recognition, it wasn’t just another love, but a true unconditional love shared by a soul mate.  The readers follow the story of our two lovers as they fight against odds to share as a couple and it tells of what they shared.  The story also dives into the boyhood of our protagonist, identifying the atrocious acts perpetrated by those loved ones and why they were the people they were.  The readers walk through horrifying moment after hideous moment seeing what living in hell is all about, only to recognize how special it was to find him loving so freely given the restraints of his childhood.  The readers feel the love that is shared as it grows as well as the mistakes made by both lovers.  And then when that love was withering away, our readers find themselves drawn to our protagonist as he attempts to put his life back together after such tragic loss.  This is a roller coaster ride and you will feel each turn, each free fall and every loop as it was lived.  You ride through the darkness, feeling only the cold, damp chill; but then you are able to feel the warmth, the love and the hope that light brings with it.  Jump on board and ride this wild ride as we must all do when we fall in love.

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November March on Washington Friday, Oct 2 2009

Words of wisdom don’t come from your head…they derive from your heart

LOVE, HONOR & RESPECT

http://www.tmdobson.com

2^nd of October 2009

NOVEMBER MARCH ON WASHINGTON

HOMOSEXUALS SHOWING THEIR SOLIDARITY FOR EQUAL RIGHTS

I think as a nation we need to solidify the constantly segregating gay population.  Homosexuals around this nation are as diverse as the population itself.  That poses real problems when we try to unify our voice on issues that face our community.  We find that some of our numbers are jaded in that they never seeing themselves falling in love with a single person, considering marriage or the benefits that are granted by it.  Some are on such polar opposites in that they can’t see their lives going on without uniting with that one special love.

We have gay republicans, gay democrats, gay independents and gay neutrals.  We have liberal party members and we have conservative party members.  We have some who never get off of their knees and we have those who would never dare to get on their knees.  We have lesbians that wear cut off flannel shirts and we have skinny model, perfect body, hair and makeup girly girls.  Our ranks rise to the extremely wealthy and down to the poverty stricken, back woods Georgia Mountains.  The only thing that we can agree on is that if we are out of the closet, we are gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered.

We have some of the very issues that started to separate the black freedom fighters before us as they fought for equality.  As any cause garners more support and attention; so does the obvious divides that the group must face.  In an effort to bring about a synergy to our fight for equal rights, we must unite all gay citizens; we must define and focus on those issues that are the most important to our community.

We must acknowledge with that being said, that some might not agree with the agendas being set by rally organizers, while other may silently champion our cause from just outside their closet doors.  We need to push our agenda forward in an organized manner that solidifies our numbers not just with the gay people of all ages, but with our heterosexual counterparts.  Because a March on Washington is that flexing of gay muscle to the rest of the nation and to the world, we must ensure that we present the best possible outcome with the largest numbers in support.  Therefore I stand against Mr. David Mixner and those who are spending countless hours rushing to organize a November March on Washington.

Yes, I said that correctly!  I think a Spring March would give those warriors who are giving so boldly of themselves the time and ability to truly put together a showing that not only stuns the nation, but forces the world to stand and take notice.  We need to be strong on those issues and weight them in the order that represent our collective needs based on political clout.  We need a victory for the side of homosexuality that propels our remaining issues forward without allowing those who oppose our efforts to organize around us.  In boxing terms, it is absolutely necessary to not just win the fight on points; we must knock out our opponent with a momentum that propels our other causes on to victory.

We need to stabilize corporate sponsors, however, we must garner sponsorship that says something to the rest of the world.  We should want companies that will support our events while they stand behind our fight for equality.  We need to give the masses the time to plan their schedules and to get out in numbers that has all of Washington busting at the seams.  Our presence should be in such enormity that we cannot be push aside as a half-hearted or pitiful attempt.  To do all of this, we must first decide on our agendas and what are the compromises we can live with.

There is such diversity in all of our issues that we must find the common ground before a march misses in gaining the support we will need.  If we cannot galvanize our ranks we will not gain the support of our political representatives that will be necessary to fight at our side.  We do not have a clear agenda that leaves few questioning what we are marching for, leaving the following questions:  What is our number one priority?  Some might say the Repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, while others might say the Freedom to Marry and yet others might just say Equality.  Which one stands the greater chance of winning and which one will carry the others through behind it?

In the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell there will need to be a sizable effort to educate and train not just the men and women among our ranks; but to also train those higher ranking officers.  Many times it is not the enlisted men and women who have the problem with their gay comrades, but rather those who manage them.  How much time will be a suitable amount to change the mentality: one year, five years, ten years, twenty years or never?  If we successfully repeal Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, there will be a back lash and that indicates we must be prepared for it.  With any action there will always be an adverse reaction to it, so those men and women that are quietly known by their fellow personnel to be gay might be in danger as the narrow minded people wanting to show their disproval take their vengeance.  Are we prepared to loose some of our fellow citizens due to gay bashing by fellow armed forces personnel?  Is this the issue that we can WIN and should it be our number one rallying point?

GAY MARRIAGE, some are so defensively oppose to the concept of granting two men or two women the ability to wed.  We all know that my stance is and will always remain in favor of LOVE, because it is what this world needs to set as its foundation for everything.  However, my very words may ignite the loathing and darkness within the souls cleaving their religious ideologies that so stanchly appose the granting of these rights.  Can we galvanize all gay men and women on this one concept that we all deserve the same rights and privileges that all other Americans seem to be taking for granted?  I question if we can solidify our own ranks on this issue when large percentages of our own feel ambivalent at best.  Others want us to make concessions and feel we will never garner enough support to over-turn all domestic DOMA Bills and launch a large enough offensive to over come the bigotry of the Christian Right.  One such concession is that as a nation we pass a law that says only those unions officiated over by an ordained religious personnel will be considered marriage while all other unions that are presided over by Judges, Magistrates and anyone other than a religious leader to be considered a domestic partnership.  Both will have exactly the same rights.  They see this as a means to absolve any politician from negatively answering to either side of their constituency.  While this does not sound egregiously horrible; there is a part of me that stills says anything that is separate can never be truly equal.

Others want the homosexual people to accept Domestic Partnerships only in those states that wish to grant them or acknowledge them.  I vehemently appose such a stance.  Just because you throw the dog a bone, does not mean you’ve granted that dog the same rights and privileges that all deserve to share equally.  We should not be stupid enough to accept unjust laws that grant any state the ability to then vote in similar DOMA fashion by accepting any marriage, but not acknowledging those Domestic Partnerships.  Separate is not equal and civil rights can never be denied to any segregated portion of the population for ever.

Regardless of the final decision for what is or is not acceptable with GAY MARRIAGE, we need to unify our issues and step towards Washington with a solidified message.  This is our number one stance.  We therefore must collectively agree what will be our secondary issue(s) and our order of importance with the conclusions that we desire.  If we push to March on Washington without this level of organization, we will show those who oppose us just what they need to defeat us on each and every issue we raise.  That would be the worst possible results and one we cannot accept.  For this reason I feel it would be prudent to hold our March on Washington until next spring when we have more organization, a more collective voice and when we have identified those issues that speak to our masses with one voice.  I do not believe the three to four months is enough time to organize a true March on Washington in the manner that we need to present ourselves.

I humbly request that Mr. Mixner and those brave men and women who have been working so diligently pause for a moment to consider my words.  I feel prudence must be taken when showing Washington what the Gay and Lesbian Community can and will do.  We must have a unified voice showing our solidarity to our issues and impervious to the challenges that will surely come after a March on Washington has ended.

Your humbled servant – Todd M Dobson

http://www.tmdobson.com

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The United Nations Deserves Better Than Mr. Treki Thursday, Sep 24 2009

23^rd of September 2009

THE UNITED NATIONS DESERVES BETTER THAN

H.E. Dr. ALI ABDUSSALAM TREKI

Today at the opening of the 64^th session of the General Assembly at the United Nations, Mr. Treki responded to questions from reporters.  I agreed with the placement of Mr. Treki as the President of the United Nations based on past records on Human Rights issues and for his ability to find common ground with International Affairs.

There were many around the world who questioned his sincerity or his ability to focus and persuade the General Assembly.  I felt that sometimes a job as large as the President of the United Nations can be done by someone with passion as apposed to the perfect politician.  Due to Mr. Treki’s human rights background, I was hoping he would be the right man for the job.

The purpose of the United Nations is listed on their website (http://www.un.org/en/documents/charter/chapter1.shtml), and I was reminded to read this Charter again after such a disappointment with the responses made in today’s interview.  If you see the first four purposes under Article 1:

1. To maintain international peace and security, and to that end: to take effective collective measures for the prevention and removal of threats to the peace, and for the suppression of acts of aggression or other breaches of the peace, and to bring about by peaceful means, and in conformity with the principles of justice and international law, adjustment or settlement of international disputes or situations which might lead to a breach of the peace;
2. To develop friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples, and to take other appropriate measures to strengthen universal peace;
3. To achieve international co-operation in solving international problems of an economic, social, cultural, or humanitarian character, and in promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion; and
4. To be a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations in the attainment of these common ends.

I was greatly saddened and angered based on the hateful, insensitive responses Mr. Treki made when asked about the passage of a resolution for universal decriminalization of homosexuality.  Mr. Treki replied to the questions with, “As a Muslim, I am not in favor of it…it is not accepted by the majority of countries.  My opinion is not in favor of this matter at all.  I think it’s not really acceptable by our religion, our traditions.”  He went on to explain “It is not acceptable in the majority of the world.  And there are some countries that allow that, thinking it is kind of democracy…I think it is not.”

The first purpose listed in the Charter for the United Nations was violated by its own President when he deliberately broke the peace that was voted in with the passage of this resolution.  The resolution was passed and the President of the organization should set his own personal ideology aside in favor of setting and maintaining peace among rivaling nations, but he disrupted the peace, which violates this first purpose.

The second purpose is to develop friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of equal rights and self determination of peoples; however, Mr. Treki did not respect the more than one billion homosexuals in this world or those countries that have passed laws disabling those hate mongers such as Mr. Treki from violating our civil rights.

The third purpose in the Charter for the United Nations is to achieve the international co-operation in solving international problems of an economic, social, cultural, or humanitarian character, and in promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms.  Mr.Treki completely obliterated this purpose and pushed his own agenda of HATE and DISCRIMINATION because this segment of the world’s population does not meet with his approval.  This is not who the world needs running the organization that is supposed to be looking out for those being oppressed.  We don’t need to put HITLER in charge of the organization responsible for HUMAN RIGHTS for billions of souls.

I am one that intends to push for the resignation or removal of Mr. Ali Abdussalam Treki from the position as President of the United Nations.  The world deserves someone who will fight for all of our souls and not a segregated portion that meets his needs.

LOVE IS NEVER WRONG ~ HATE IS NEVER RIGHT

Your humble servant – Todd M Dobson

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Daily Thoughts Monday, Sep 21 2009

20^th of September 2009

~ DAILY THOUGHTS ~

I love it when a normal day is underway and I’m surprised by learning unexpected lessons.  I spidered my way to a Facebook friends (Pierre Le Roux) blog to read what promised to be an interesting post (Warfare: The Delightful and Dreary Sides to Gay Life).  The article Mr. Le Roux delicately wrote, details the tribulations of world known athletic runner Mokgadi Caster Semenya, who finds herself in the midst of an embroiled controversy questioning her sex.

I state that correctly, those who stand opposite Ms. Semenya are challenging whether she is a woman or a man.  Mr. Le Roux expresses very poignantly his opinion that in this case he believes Ms. Semenya is placed in the between category of Intersexed, formally known by many as Hermaphrodite.  To be an intersex person, one must either have some of both sexual genitalia or in even fewer cases neither (androgynous).  However, it is so much more complicated than having a hoohoo and/or a winkie, because there is much that makes either function.  This doesn’t even mention all that goes behind the physical parts into the psychological aspects of a person’s sex.

This is a more commonly known issue than people think, but it is one that very few wish to discuss, therefore as a society we don’t even think about it.  It is only thought about when parents find that they are faced with having a baby being born this way.  Those parents have no clue what to do other than what their immediate doctor recommends.  Most physicians try to separate themselves from their work; but human beings can no longer leave their personal ideologies at the door than you can the physical aspects of this issue.  However, it is far more than just the presence of extra parts.  Some doctors will try to force the new parents into making a decisions right then upon the birth of their child as to its sex.  They feel that corrective surgery must be performed immediately to make the child the chosen sex of the parents.  This is truly demonstrative, because you have a fifty-fifty chance at making the right decision.  But what does a parent do when they make the wrong decision?

Most psychiatric doctors would tell the family to treat the child only as the sex that was chosen for the child, but what of natural selection.  This brings the conversation square with one that I have been arguing with Christians over for years, I was born male, and yet I was also born gay.  Most Christians are taught by the organized religion that sexuality is a choice, but this might prove them wrong.  When a soul is born into this world with both genitalia, why then do parents, doctors (mental or physical) believe anyone but that soul can define what or who they truly are?

With that being said, times have changed many things and for now, half of the physical doctors coach parents to hold off on corrective surgery until such time as the child starts to show masculine or feminine tendencies.  The surgery should be done before they enter their hormonal years, so that means before teen years.  The truly horrible aspects are; most children are developing both masculine and feminine propensities during these formative years.  Some even continue nurturing them through puberty and some even beyond into their twenties.

All of this to point out my primary ideology from the very onset: why can’t we just accept someone like Ms. Semenya for who she is…as she is?  If she chooses to be defined as one sex over the other, then it might be the right time for surgical action.  If she accepts herself physically as she was born, who are any of us to tell her she’s wrong.  Our position should be to LOVE, HONOR & RESPECT the living soul that she is.  Nothing less than that will do.  She is no greater than we are, nor is she less than we are!  She is a living, breathing human who deserves everything that we expect for ourselves.

As for the next time parents are faced with such a decision at the birth of their child…LOVE that being you were graced with as they enter this world.  HONOR that they are a part of each of you and perfect exactly as they come to you.  Above all, RESPECT that this soul will endure enough from such cruel, hateful people that cannot see them as anything other than the unique and beautiful soul they are.

I wish Mokgadi Caster Semenya love as she traverses this treacherous world of ours.  I also hope that the governing body that has brought such attention to a graceful woman, that you see the soul before you as she is, treating her with LOVE, HONOR & RESPECT as you would have all others regard you.  Allow her to continue her athletic pursuits without fail.

COURAGE IS A SIGN OF A TRULY GREAT ATHLETE!!

Your humble servant – Todd M Dobson

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Response To: The Unjustifiable Resentment of Black Americans Wednesday, Sep 9 2009

9th of September 2009

RESPONSE TO:
THE UNJUSTIFIABLE RESENTMENT OF BLACK AMERICANS

By: Michael Dean Shelton

I found your blog and was looking forward to some exceptional subject matter based on the post titles.  I so fervently disagreed with this post, that instead of letting it go, I wanted to give you a different perspective that you might not have reflected upon.

While I read the statistics and some of the comments that angered you, we cannot segregate those we wish to challenge into supporting us.  We as Gay Americans must follow the teachings from such iconic black freedom fighters in attracting our opposition to the table for discussions; not to insult, belittle and push them into a corner of defensiveness.  We will never gain a place at the table of equality if among our ranks we ridicule those we wish to garner support from.

Looking at the numbers of voters and delineating those numbers, it shows that we carried white voters with more than fifty percent voting against Proposition 8.  We must identify in the campaign strategy how we reached out to the White California voter ascertaining why our efforts were successful.  Upon identifying that information, did we reach out to the Black California voter in the same manner?  If we did, that will classify why our campaign efforts were unsuccessful and more market research must be done to ensure that our message can be delivered to our black brothers and sisters effectively.

One of the things you neglected to look at in your article was to identify that in the Western United States, the black populace only accounts for 9.1 % of the total population.  Across the United States it is approximately 12.5% of the makeup of this country.  It is therefore easy to understand why Black Americans may still identify themselves as a minority.  Other statistics indicate that 94% of the world’s population is an active participant in religious ideologies.  In the black community that number is higher to approximately 97%.  While many of the black parishioners of the same faiths that our white practitioners are, more than 50% of them attend a house of worship that cater to predominately black patrons.  That intensifies the fact that our struggle for freedom from oppression has more to do against religions than it has to do with individual citizens.

That tells me that in our fight against Proposition 8, we did not do a reasonable job reaching out to black churches, synagogues, temples and ashrams.  Therefore between now and the next election, it would behoove us to engage (not denigrate) our fellow black citizens in their houses of worship and not on the streets.  We will not reach the black masses in the same manner we touched white voters.  We must engage with black religious leaders and politicians that will sway the Black California voters in places where they congregate and not expect them to come to us.  We must bring our message of equality to them where they congregate and worship, which means we must win over black religious and political leaders.  That is how we spread our message.  That is how we show the similarities within their struggle for freedom as within ours.  That is where we educate the average black person on religious dogma such as the belief that a gay person chooses to be that way and we show them that just like they are, we had no choice with being gay.  It is more difficult for the average black person to identify with Gay America when more of our ranks live above poverty and the greater percentage of their numbers remains below poverty.  As I’ve been saying for years, we must remove our differences and identify our similarities as we offer a helping hand to keep their continued struggle in the forefront so that as we receive their blessings we might also help them.  We will never win the battle of equality while we struggle amongst ourselves…we must strive to be better, accepting and yes, walk in the path paved by so many slain black leaders who taught America to step aside from hatred and fear.

I feel your anger got the better of you within the text of your post.  While I can identify with that anger, because I too feel our black brothers and sisters should be easier to persuade than their white, religious counter parts; however, I implore you to set aside your anger and remember that a few comments (ok many comments) does not speak for the entire Black California population.  We must not stereotype the masses by the voice of the few…isn’t that what we are trying to get them to agree too also?

If you wish to have a greater understanding of how difficult reaching out to the black community will be; talk with black men who have sex on the “Down Low.”  An entire population cannot stand proud or tall against its own, which forces them deeper into a closet.  They feel rejection by the black community with a harshness that speaks of betrayal.  It is deeply disturbing how as apposed to love and support, they feel even greater discrimination, which pushes them in larger numbers to live dual lives.  Any time humanity is forced to live with duality, there will be greater suffering.  Those who are black and gay, but closeted have a greater propensity to discriminate against all homosexuality.  We see that exemplified by all of the religious leaders who are caught in sexual acts outside of their marriages.  Some are found with gay sexual exploitations while others are found with parishioners or even prostitutes; yet most were the ones shouting the loudest against homosexuality, adultery or prostitution.  Our struggle for freedom must also include liberating the black gay men and women who feel they are not accepted by their own.

Please consider my words and look at how you may voice your opinion with the might of your words, not in opposition to the black community, but rather including the black community.

LOVE CAN NEVER BE WRONG

Your humble servant – Todd M Dobson

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Daily Thoughts Tuesday, Sep 8 2009

7^th of September 2009

~ DAILY THOUGHTS ~

Today was such an amazing day with temperatures in the low eighties (Fahrenheit about twenty-two degrees Celsius), just a touch of a breeze with sunny, blue skies.  I took off and spent a couple hours riding my mountain bike and enjoying the splendor that Mother Nature provides.

After a weekend of volunteer work, answering questions from one person after the next.  My job is to help them find solutions to all sorts of issues: marital, financial, employment, relationships, physical problems and/or emotional ones.  Cavorting with nature is such a great way to release all of the energy from those who need assistance.  Spending a couple of hours surrounded by the beauty and serenity that nature provides always centers me.  It is as if I spent a full day meditating in an ashram, but completely recharged in a fraction of the time.  I enjoy helping people and I love what I do for those who sit before me.  It is rewarding in so many ways with some people walking away relieved while others may take some time before they realize the gift they’ve received.

There are so many changes in our planet that are already occurring and many have no clue that they are a foot.  It behooves each of us to find time to enjoy the outdoors with any tasks that you can.  Get in touch with the person you are by reaching out side your doors and windows and allowing nature to lead the way.

We have the ability to make the coming changes great ones while we set fear aside.  Most people are seeing and hearing about December 21^st, 2012.  What most won’t tell you is that the changes we are experiencing will be completed before that date.  The secret that most won’t tell you….each of us can make these changes great ones or horrific ones.

What I mean, is that our intent makes the difference for the entire world.  If we fear the coming of 2012, thinking that it will bring the infamous Armageddon, then that is what we will experience.  If we, as the world, believe and think that 2012 brings the world Peace, Love and Hope; then that is what we will receive.  It is up to our collective conscience to determine if we will bring about heaven on earth or deliver us into hell (that is a metaphor that is extremely descriptive of what we can do).

I cannot think of a world where I can’t spend time on my bike, kayak, swimming or hiking my way through the wonders we have on this planet.  Join me in knowing every day between now and December 21^st, 2012 that I breathe in the air of this world that is filled with Love, Honor & Respect, because that is what I send to every soul breathing with me!

LOVE WHO YOU ARE & LOVE EVERYONE

Your humble servant – Todd M Dobson

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The President to Address Our Children Saturday, Sep 5 2009

04^th of September 2009

THE PRESIDENT TO ADDRESS OUR CHILDREN

This country has witnessed a media storm apposing the planned speech by President Obama to our educational system and the children of the United States.  I liken the response we’ve witnessed to that of a child flaunting a temper tantrum because Mom or Dad won’t let them harvest a basket full of sweets at the checkout counter of the local store.

I find the hypocrisy from those conservative families to be laughable.  Educating our children should be one of this nation’s highest priorities.  Education has been an agenda item for the past fifty years, but not one president has given it more than lip service.  We have a man residing in the White House who is actually trying to deliver on his campaign promises.  It should not matter, if you voted for him, if you are a Democrat or a Republican; this nation should be anxious to hear the message he has for our children.

I am disgusted by the politics as usual that is being played out by citizens instead of politicians.  Partisan politics is raging throughout conservative states like Texas and Florida.  It doesn’t matter what this president does or does not do, these people are angry because their president was not elected.  There is no true measure to the man who holds office or what he does for this nation, because they can’t get beyond the loss of the presidency.  They exemplify poor losers and fight this presidency at every decision.

What I noticed very predominately is the ubiquity of the message each person that has been interviewed extolled.  The same messages declaring their rage over President Obama addressing our children.  “He is trying to convert our children to Socialism!”  Some explained how they wouldn’t let anyone speak with their child without them present, but that is the most ridiculous statement I’ve heard, because they can’t tell you who their child chats with online, on their phones, at school or away from school.  Children are raising themselves and most Conservative Families are no different.  I live in the Bible Belt South that is ultra conservative tempered with religious ideologies; yet the children of the South are no better off then their more liberal counterparts from the Northeast or West Coast.

Not one of the parents or religious leaders protesting against President Obama addressing our children said what is the most obvious to me.  Instead of showing their children how adults throw temper tantrums; stand first and voice your opinion against the speech without a preview in advance.  Offer to sit with your children and listen to the president’s address simultaneously teaching them how to properly listen with an open mind to opinions you may not agree with.  It is good to voice an opinion that differs from that of the President of the United States.  Teach your child how that is a cherished right that not all citizens in other countries share.  Explain that in some nations, if a citizen stands against the ruling individual or party how they may lose their freedom and even their life.  Sit in the same classroom with your children and after the speech, discuss it as you listen to them and other parents.

The parents that are angry were obviously well trained with what to say and how to say it.  That is more infuriating than anything, because this good step by a president was used as a blatant stab at the Healthcare Reform Bill.  I have more disgust for those who appose granting medical benefits to all citizens than I do for any who might not agree with me.  Those who appose insuring all American citizens don’t care about any one other than themselves.  This is simply an issue of decency and not one of socialism.  If it means that we take a single step away from democracy, then maybe we as a nation need to make in order to better care for our own.  I don’t see it as cut and dry democracy verses socialism debate, but if that is how you need to view finding a way to provide medical coverage for all citizens, then do so.  As long as you do what is right for all citizens of this great nation.  There is more than enough to take care of us all and the only people who don’t think so are the Doctors and Insurance Companies who place a higher value on revenues as apposed to human life.

Your humble servant – Todd M Dobson

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Changes in the World will Change Us Sunday, Aug 23 2009

23 of August 2009

CHANGES IN THE WORLD WILL CHANGE US

I sat down today to write Part II of: HOW DOES A FAMILY HATE IT’S OWN, but my fingers paused on the keyboard and for close to an hour, I read between the lines and interpret the facts of the events over the past year.  I kept trying to figure out why after a year do the people who I’ve done everything to separate myself from, keep trying to suck you back in to their lives.  I’ve worked so hard at surrounding myself with Love and such positive energy that the emptiness and negativity emanating from the ones I called family is so opposite of what I’ve tried to perpetuate for myself.

In my meditative state, I realized that this is their way of saying I LOVE YOU.  They truly don’t know any other way to communicate the raw emotion within them, so they request my participation in their drama filled lives.  It took me far less time to find the facts that were counter to those assumptions that I was led too.  Someone other than my Aunt Anna created that Facebook account on her behalf.  While they told her about the account and I’m sure gave her the login ID and password, she has no knowledge of how to get to it and has never logged onto it.  So the emails I sent and the friendship request that were denied were being done by someone other than my Aunt Anna (I can only imagine it was my mother, Waunita Jacobs).  I finally received an email message back from my Aunt, I guess the person in my immediate family who created the account for my Aunt Anna did not count on me emailing Aunt Anna the same message I emailed to her Facebook account.  As for the phone calls that went unanswered; my Uncle is not doing as well as he has been.  He is having difficulties with his memory and is falling down a good bit.  He requires constant attention and supervision, but a woman in her mid eighties who could use help herself, is having to be his primary care giver.  They both need the LOVE and SUPPORT of family and friends.  Between the increased doctor appointments and other people that have been coming and going, she could only imagine that the messages were erased by mistake, but she was never great at the answer machine either.

The missed emails, phone calls, voice mail messages and friend request all culminated in the desperate calls for the receipt of love from my original family, but with all the lies, mistrust and hate; I completely understand how miscommunication has happen.  Instead of saying to me, we miss you and love you; they only know how to deliver that message by causing drama, heart ache, pain and separation.  It is sad, but I looked beyond the message as it was delivered to the people and why they cannot go without the drama.  They have never been honest with anyone much less themselves.  They only know manipulation, lies and distrust as a means to communicate, so how can I expect them to say what is truly on their mind or in their hearts.  It is wrong of me to think they could or would communicate in any other way but how they know.

The realization finally sunk in for me.  The world is changing (which I’ve been espousing for some time now), but so many souls in this world were born to similar manners like my parents, siblings and family.  They have never learned any other way of life or to communicate, so like me having to learn that I can’t just look at the message for what it is, I must learn to see behind the message to truly understand what they really mean to say.  This sounds like a lot of work, and for a while it will be; however, the energy that is changing in the world, making it a better place for all, may seem like the Devil’s work for some.  So what I am experiencing with my family is exactly what the entire world may experience from all others.  Those who dwell in darkness and negativity may see these changes for what they are and fear will cause them to fight against them.  It means the ending to the life they know and cherish, so would you expect them to just give up the control they have over so many souls without a fight?  Even those people, who are not totally engulfed in negativity, but bounce between the darkness and light, may have a difficulty garnering these changes for the possessiveness and love they truly are.  It is difficult when their lives are still filled with drama, lies, half truths and misrepresentations; do you think they could trust that what they see and feel as good?  No, they won’t and they can’t.  Those who fill their lives with light and love, even when they know what is happening, may or may not have issue with the changing world around them.  It is incumbent upon you and me to be the ones who help all others see the changes for what they truly are and help everyone through them.

That is what I had to learn from this situation and it is what we all need to learn.  Everyone, not just my family, is feeling the effects of the changes that are happening with this world.  These are wonderful and blessed changes that will bring about a greater consciousness of love for all.  We must help to guide those around us who feel the changes, but don’t trust in them or trust themselves in the midst of these changes.  They need our love and our support so that they may trust the love of others as well as us.

As for my family and the acts of the last twelve months; they will either learn and grow or parish with the inabilities to change with the world.  I hope they find it within their hearts to grow with love instead of parish in the negativity and hate that it takes to treat their child or their sibling with such negative acts designed to harm.  As for my actions, I choose to forgive them and to continue sending them love and forgiveness as I’ve done every day for the past several years.

PEACE AND LOVE WILL ALWAYS WIN

Your humble servant – Todd M Dobson

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How Does A Family HATE It’s Own Friday, Aug 21 2009

21^st of August 2009

 

 

HOW DOES A FAMILY HATE IT’S OWN

 

 

I have written many times about my childhood and those souls that are defined by the technical name called “FAMILY.” I haven’t scribed about them since the post, “If You Think Your Family is BAD – Let’s Compare” published in September of 2008.  Being dragged down into their drama induced lives truly goes against what I believe is right for all people.  If you’ve read any of my posts these many years, you will see a common theme that encourages you to believe in yourself and tips on how to make yourself a better person.

 

It has been almost one year since I posted that article with rare thoughts about it or the people disturbingly portrayed within it.  However, I seem to be a common thought for them.  After that post, they told some horrible lies to people that I cared greatly about and I thought who cared for me.  My only living grandmother (Della M Dobson) was berated on numerous occasions about how I continue to write about them and how I frequently use their names.  To the point where she finally said she never wanted to see me again unless I stopped blogging and removed all of my posts.  Della has never once read any of my blogs, but when a woman in her nineties is repeatedly told by multiple people (Kimmy Covington, Melanie Covington-Arceneaux, Michael Covington and Tonya Dobson) what a horrid person her grandson is, it only takes a matter of time for the weight to be too heavy for this woman to bear.  While their incessant campaign of lies, half-truths, drama and misrepresentation of the facts would cause anyone to question; it was probably more her daughter (Dr. Jeanne D. Melson (Wyatt) and her Preacher husband Lawrence “Skip” Melson) that finalized my inability to visit my own elderly and dying grandmother any longer.

 

To add to this wave of indiscretions, my mother (Waunita Jacobs) had the audacity to call my roommates mother in attempts to illicit information about me.  My roommate’s mother was wise to the situation and understanding the kind of woman my mother is, said very little.  My roommates mother received multiple phone calls all attempting to drive a wedge of distrust between me and my roommate in what I can only image was to have me removed from my home.  My mother’s last effort was to tell my roommate’s mother, “I just hope that Todd is not taking advantage of your son!”  What love and compassion a mother must have of her son to attempt to get him kicked out of his home…or rather, should I ask how much love does for yourself does it take that a woman tries to get her own son tossed out of his home (not her home).

 

It is ashamed to be as vindictive and uncaring as to deny any person the comforts of someone, but to drive an elderly woman to the place where she feels she must not see her own grandson.  How much hate must you have flowing through you to perpetuate a crusade over twelve months long that is designed to isolate a single person from all whom they love?  How much do you think each person involved in such a fight must loath themselves and truly dislike who they are as a person?

 

I was not invited to the funeral of my Uncle (Terry Lee Dobson) who died on the 31^st of December 2008.  It hurt that I was purposely not told of his passing nor was I invited to his funeral.  It concerned me with Della’s progressively declining health that someone made her feel so strongly about my visits that a lonely woman, who is scared of dying would send away someone who visits her regularly.  I looked at the situation and knew this was the work of those souls I grew up knowing.  This was exactly the type of pain they would cause someone else; just to inflict suffering on me.  They do not care who else must endure, as long as the target (that would be me) is punished too.

 

I have been on MySpace for seven, eight or nine years and I’ve been on Facebook almost three years.  I found that an Aunt with whom I’ve been very close with over the years had a Facebook account.  I was shocked and amused when I found her account, so I immediately sent a friend request followed up with a phone call.  This is my mother’s mother’s sister or my great aunt, but we’ve always been close.  Anna Leake and I spoke about every couple of months and our last phone call was several months ago, so it was time for me to find out how she and Uncle Herb were doing (seeing how they are both in the eighties).  My call was not picked up, which was odd, but not so that I realized there was a problem.  When I recognized that the Facebook friend request had been denied, I laughed thinking Ann clicked on the wrong button.  I sent another friend request and followed it up with another phone call attempt.  This call went unanswered so I left a funny, laughing message even referencing the Facebook friend request on it machine.  The second request was also denied and neither call was responded too.  That was highly unusual because Ann normally picked up the phone each time I called, but never went without returning my calls.

 

It is funny the second time I sent a friendship request to Ann, I looked at her friends and there were all of the people who have been propagating such contempt towards me.  I laughed because they never made the leap to MySpace and they would laugh and joke about those who used such sites, but here the entire family resided with their pictures looking back at me.  I smiled because now it made since why a woman I had just spoken too several months earlier and who compassionately told me how Waunita, Kimmy and Tonya were so lost that they could only see and negative things towards others.  She professed that they could not recognize true love, compassion or anything else when it sits before them nor could they let it within their hearts.  This statement was brought about by Ann without my prompting the subject and I did what I’ve been doing for the past several years, avoided them as a subject.  Now I knew why Ann was not responding to me and denied my friendship requests.  While I may not know what lies were told to her or in what intervals, I can attribute the demise of another familiar relationship to the hands of the ones that are suppose to love me the most – FAMILY.

 

I can attest that I have been learning much from my reading and much of my own teachings (in my blogs and in person with the classes I teach and the people who seek my wisdom).  I learned that while their actions are designed to provoke anger, I let that emotion pass through me and move quickly to an understanding and then pity for the ones who know no better.  I know that their actions speak more about the coldness that is within their own hearts, and yet, I am just the object they project that rage towards.  I know that every lie and every person they focus their efforts in secluding me far from them is an act of aggression in taking something away from me; it only proves that the love of the one they turned away from me must not have been as great as I originally thought it to be.  Therefore, I have lost little when they have taken nothing that I never had in the first place.  The bottom line is with every attack and every attempt to weaken me; they prove my beliefs that much more.  My faith in LOVE, HONOR and RESPECT stands firmer with their provocations and I know without a doubt that I won’t be the one who suffers in isolation at the end.  With every step they make, my heart is filled with LOVE, because it proves to me why I am so different from the ones I was born with.

 

THE STRENGTH AND COURAGE WITHIN, ALLOWS FOR FORGIVENESS!

 

When you are faced with acts of betrayal like these from friends, family or loved ones; remember what makes you the special person you are!  Don’t allow another person to tear you apart.  Use the energy they dispel to empower and strengthen who you are.  Don’t give in to terror from others and be responsible for how you feel and who you’ve become.  If you need to talk about such acts (on the blog or off of it) let me know.  Maybe I can help you see the rays of light between the grey skies and dark clouds surrounding you.  As always find a way to LOVE, HONOR & RESPECT even those who wish you harm and ill will; fore they are the ones who need it the most!

 

 

Your humble servant – Todd M Dobson

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The Debate Over Healthcare Reform Monday, Aug 17 2009

16^th of August 2009

THE DEBATE OVER HEALTHCARE REFORM

I am sick and tired over politics as usual in Washington DC.  The only ones winning in the gridlock that has become the Washington beltway are the politicians who have received huge sums of money as bribes by the Medical Community and Insurance Industry.  Healthcare lobbyists have spent more than a billion dollars this year alone fighting the proposed Healthcare Reforms.

Let’s break down what we’re fighting for: insuring millions of Americans who are cannot afford the huge cost of health coverage.  We have one of the highest unemployment rates we’ve seen in over fifty years.  That leaves the majority of those people without means for medical needs.  When their children or even when they find the need to see a doctor, money is in such short supply that it may mean taking from money for food or paying the mortgage.  It is a travesty when someone must chose what they must do without in order to afford the doctor’s visit, the prescriptions or anything else a medical visit may require.  It only gets worst if they need an Emergency Room visit.  Some families have to go into debt for ten, fifteen or more years because of a hospital stay or even worst; they are denied medical services?

Doctor’s offices and insurance companies play this game where the insurance company forces the doctor to perform their services at a discounted price.  The doctors then raise their prices on all services just to maintain the profit margins they wish to make.  In turn, when a person does not have insurance to receive the discounted price of services; the doctor doesn’t discount their cost to the individual.  The person who needs the discounted cost of medical services the most ends up screwed multiple times over.  To expound on the problem my doctor convinced me that I needed to get a Hepatitis vaccination.  I started the Hepatitis vaccination process while I was insured by Aetna Insurance Company.  I was more than half way through the vaccination process when I accepted a better job.  I took the extra steps to find out which of my new insurance options would cover the completion of the vaccinations.  The doctor’s office called to ensure which company out of my choices and told me that upon questioning Blue Cross Blue Shield PPO validated that they would pay the remaining balance.  Blue Cross Blue Shield then denied that claim stating it was considered a Pre-Existing Problem.

In the process of this, I talked my roommate into having the same vaccinations.  He received the same series of shots from the Gwinnett Clinic for a charge of one hundred and fifty dollars for the full batteries of vaccination shots.  The half of the vaccinations that was not paid by Blue Cross Blue Shield due to what they called a preexisting claim cost me over four hundred dollars.  I had to wonder how the exact same shots cost over six times more.  This exemplified the game between the Doctors and the Insurance Companies with all of us getting screwed by both.

Medicine is changing at such a veracious pace and some doctors are better than others at keeping up with those transformations.  Some don’t want to keep up and some can’t.  Just as with any group, there are good doctors and bad doctors.  The bad doctors are running up the cost of Malpractice Insurance for the good ones.  There are also good and bad people in this country.  Some people want to get rich quick off of the backs of others regardless of entitlement.  They will sue any doctor thinking all doctors are rich and can afford it.  I do agree that malpractice claims and insurance needs to be evaluated in great details, but this is a separate issue from Healthcare Reform.  My personal feelings are that the entire Insurance industry is so far out of control that the entire industry needs to be transformed.

That leads us into the Insurance Companies who are fighting with all they have against Healthcare Reform.  They don’t want anyone watching over their shoulders.  I worked for several insurance companies and they have teams of people crunching numbers all day every day just to tell management what claims to deny and which ones they need to pay in order not to upset the greater populace.  They know that less than fifty percent of all denied claims are fought.  Out of the less than fifty percent of those claims that are refuted, they may only be required to pay for a fraction of those.  It is all about the numbers and profit margins.  The less they pay, the more they make as profit.

The average person just want medical coverage without hearing the word “NO.”  The Insurance Industry uses words like Preexisting Conditions, Denial of Claims, Co-Pay and a host of others in order to boost their profits.  I believe we call that Corporate Greed!  They go way beyond greed by playing games with every thing.  If you get this new drug that is known to do a better job, faster and with fewer side effects; you have to pay large sums of money out of pocket because the insurance company won’t pay the higher cost for it.  These examples are just a few of the games the Insurance Companies play with each and every one of us, because they cannot cut into their billion or even trillion dollar profit margins.  The only things more corrupt than politics; is the Insurance Industry. It would go a long way in making this country a better place to live if we just obliterated the entire industry and started over.

The jest of this fight has to do with common decency and respect for all of our fellow citizens.  When hospitals in Los Angeles are paying cab drivers to take patients who don’t have insurance out to the area closest to another hospital simply because the patient doesn’t have insurance, how sick is the system?  They do this regularly regardless if those patience are sick, injured or dying, they just don’t want to care for the person who cannot pay for their medical services.  What does this say about the Healthcare Industry or where is the dignity for our fellow humans.  The main debate has centered on the cost of the over-haul and that outrages me more than anything.  It shows that those Congressional leaders have no compassion or regard for any of us, the citizens they should be fighting for.  I don’t agree with giving President Obama a blank check, but cost should be the last thing debated over.  It shouldn’t matter what the cost, when every single life is worth more than the cost of reform.

My suggestion is to eliminate all emergency, medical and prescription services for all Congressmen, all Representatives and all of their families until they find a way to provide medical coverage for every living citizen of the United States.  If you cannot afford medical coverage and must go without, then we should not provide it to our elected officials.  When those people we elect to take care of us in Washington are made to suffer as millions of Americans must every day, maybe they might look upon this debate in a different manner.

As for the Lobbyist; I think all lobbyists should have to apply for a license with strict laws in place and full disclosure of their activities.  Campaign reform laws should stop the passing of funds to any politician with no Lobbyist able to be behind closed doors with any politician…ever.  Lobbyists are lower than Lawyers, lower than Politicians and even lower than pond scum.  They are the medium that allows the corruption to play out with our elected officials.  I think new laws should be passed that severely punishes the politician, the lobbyist and the person or company that is caught unduly influencing any elected official.

Healthcare Reform needs to pass thereby eliminating uninsured citizens.  When politicians want to play with the lives of their constituents, it is time for them to be removed from office.  The cost of healthcare coverage should be the last issue on the table.  When it becomes the first issue, those politicians making it so also need to be removed from office, because they are the ones who have been bought and paid for by the Medical Profession and the Insurance Industry.  The lives of US citizens are more valuable than your pampas and arrogance; so set ego aside and do your jobs by finding a way to insure every American.

Your humble servant – Todd M Dobson

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Gay Rights – A World Issue Friday, Aug 14 2009

13^th of August 2009

GAY RIGHTS – A WORLD ISSUE

Thomas Jefferson once stated, “No man has a natural right to commit aggression on the equal rights of another, and this is all from which the laws ought to restrain him.”

I have written many times about the atrocious fight for gay rights within the United States of America.  We love to state that we are the freest country in the world, and yet I am still unable to love or marry the person with whom I chose to love.

I remember all too well how when I walked into my first gay bar, I had to look around the parking lot across the street from the bar.  You didn’t dare park directly at the bar because many people would drive by as they shouted and yelled racial epithets.  News crews frequently drove by with cameras running just to catch one or many people entering the bar in hopes to ruin another life.  If a group of guys could catch you alone leaving the club or walking towards the bar; they would beat you, bash you and they could care less if you lived or died.

The problem was that most people didn’t care if a FAG was killed.  Their loathing for the person who was beaten or killed gave very little reasons for the authorities to look too deeply into the offense.  Religion has been alienating homosexuals for centuries.  In fact, religion looked down upon the Greeks and the Romans who regarded homosexuality as a normal part of life with disdain, rejection and killing since before Jesus Christ walked this earth.

Weeks ago I was deeply saddened when I made a friend who lives in Tehran, Iran.  My friend happens to be gay, even though President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of The Republic of Iran said when asked about homosexuals in Iran, “In Iran, we don’t have homosexuals, like in your country.“ When pushed on the issue, he said “In Iran, we do not have this phenomenon.  I don’t know who’s told you that we have it.” It saddened me as I talked via email messages and chat sessions with my friend that he lives in fear every day in Iran.  He fears that someone will find out that he is gay.  If someone knows that he is gay and does not say, the arm of Islam will severely punish them.  He says that being gay is against Islam and for that offense; he would be killed by hanging after being stoned.  Religion has been crucifying gay people for centuries, but in today’s date and time, why would any country knowingly and willingly sanction the killing of people simply because they love a person of the same sex?

Much to the chagrin of both President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, homosexuality is alive and thriving within the boarders of Iran.  Regardless of the efforts of all Islamic countries, gay men and women will continue to come from straight people.  Both leaders can deny the existence of homosexuality within their boarders as with all other Islamic countries, but to contradict it does not extinguish it.  You can slaughter all known FAGS, but that will never impede the propagation nor slow any returns.

President Ahmadinejad said when he visited the United States, that “We are a peaceful, loving nation,” so can the world expect that this isolation and killing of homosexuals will diminish.  If either the President of Iran or it’s Islamic leader, Ayatollah Khamenei truly wish to show how Iran is a peaceful and loving nation, then stop killing your own people and show compassion to those who can no more change a part of their life than change the country of their birth.  If you will not change the civilized treatment of citizens of your country, then let them leave and find another life in another place.  Allow them to live a life with dignity while openly loving a person of the same sex.  What would be even better and go beyond embracing all of humanity; legalize the lives and the love of all people…homosexual or otherwise and do what the United States can’t seem to do for its own citizens.  Go beyond where you are and treat all people with LOVE, HONOR and RESPECT!

To those who live in Islamic countries, remember that the Koran states, “If Allah brings you to it, He will bring you through it.” This tells me that if you are born gay, it is because you are supposed to live a life loving people of the same sex and no one can ever denounce that part of you, but you.  I would remind all Islam, “Stingyness has nothing to do with how much money you have.  Neither does generosity.  Its about how much heart you’ve got.” Show how Islam is truly about Love and Peace by loving all persons and if you cannot, allow those you wish removed from you sight to leave your country.  Hassan al Basri once stated, “The World is three days: As for yesterday, it has vanished, along with all that was in it.  As for tomorrow, you may never see it.  As for today, it is yours, so work in it.” Give all people today so that they may Live Life Fully with LOVE, HONOR and RESPECT.

Your humble servant – Todd M Dobson

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Lessons for Life ~ Saturday, Aug 1 2009

18^th of July 2009

Series called:

LESSONS FOR LIFE ~ LOVE

I hope that some of the lessons (Lessons for Life) written about in this blog resonate with a part of you.  This message is one that should be the most obvious; however, I for one know from experience just how difficult it can be to see through the clouds that enshroud our daily lives.

The greatest gift we have to give anyone, including ourselves, is LOVE!  To some that may sound trite, and yet there is nothing more important than understanding how LOVE moves within our lives.  I’ve written many times how we enter this world knowing only one thing…how to LOVE, and yet, we are taught everything else.

The reason we know how to love when we are born has as much to do with the place we come from as it does that we spend up to nine months inside a cradle constructed for LOVE…the womb of our mother.  In most cases that person radiates love when she’s pregnant.  We cannot come into this world with the cumulative knowledge of our previous lifetimes, because it would impede those lessons we agreed to learn.  For the majority of us, the process of growing within our mother’s womb is also a central focus of the love that is cherished by both mother and child.

It must also be said that regardless of the circumstances surrounding our lifetime, we must discover how to love ourselves.  Many of us have experienced some truly atrocious things within this lifetime.  If you have suffered from abuse, neglect and dysfunction, I do understand how difficult it is to do something as simple as loving yourself.  Many of us think that it is far easier to find love from another, but that will never give you the depth or the breath of the LOVE that you require.  We must do that for ourselves in order to know that what we receive from others may be wondrous, but it is cursory to that which we know within ourselves.

I am speaking of a LOVE that you share with another.  A deep and abiding LOVE that you share with that special person as you build your own family.  This Love is truly a gift and must be cherished as you give unconditionally to that person and receive simultaneously from them.  There is nothing that can emulate the feeling as you find that one person and infatuation blossoms into a deep, fulfilling LOVE that you desire as your heart aches in their absence.

I am also referencing a love that you give freely to all others who surround you and enter our lives through all sources.  Yes, the person you read about in the news or see on the television should invoke a sense of LOVE and COMPASSION.  Yes, this love is different from that you share with someone special, but your neighbors, your co-workers, colleges and even the people you meet on the street deserve your LOVE.  We must refrain from judging others because unless we are able to walk in their foot steps, we are truly incapable of knowing how or why they got where they are now.  That is where the LOVE in our hearts needs to be sent even to the person we pass on the road during our travels.  The nameless person that we catch a glimpse of in passing, deserve the same LOVE that we send to our family, our friends and those we cherish dearly.  Even then, it is our responsibility to find it within our heart to choose LOVE over all other emotions during the course of our daily lives.  That may be a more challenging concept to digest; as you think, “I must love the stranger who bumps into me at the coffee shop spilling my double foam chi late all over my new suit.  The answer is “Yes!”  As difficult as you think that may be, it is our duty to find it within our heart to feel LOVE as apposed to anger, frustration or any other emotion.

LOVE comes and goes in many different forms.  As the world continues to change, we must connect with LOVE as our primary emotion, but let it be that which we fall too first, last and always.  For the average person that is not how we focus our daily living, but it should be.  As we make the change in connecting to LOVE, we will find that it is easier to give and to receive.  Let LOVE be your focus always and forever, it will never lead you astray.

LOVE CAN NEVER BE WRONG

Your humble servant – Todd M Dobson

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Lessons for Life ~ Life and Death Tuesday, Jul 14 2009

14^th of July 2009

Series called:

LESSONS FOR LIFE ~ LIFE AND DEATH

The subject of death seems to be extremely emotional for people.  The obvious reasons are the loss of a loved one.  How would it change your views on death and the living, if you accepted that those who passed away were not gone; that they remain a passive element of our lives?

In the West, we’ve been taught that there are only three things that are certain in life; we are born, we pay taxes and that we die.  We directly and indirectly learn that once we die, there is nothing more.  We are buried, the ones we leave behind must grieve our passing and unless you “repent and accept God,” there is nothing more.

Jesus spoke multiple times about the soul lasting beyond the death of the physical body.  Christianity taught for over three hundred years that the soul within each human being, came from God and once physical death occurred, it traversed back to God.  Three hundred and twenty five years after the death of Christ, Emperor Constantine created the Council of Nicaea.  Constantine was a life long Pagan, but understood humanity enough to know, that if family member would kill another family member due to a difference in ideology, then he must unite their beliefs.  He set out to create a unified religion that took from all other ideologies and set forth as the only religion in the world upon which he mandated its practice.  Constantine did not feel reincarnation benefitted this unified religion and had all references to reincarnation expunged from the Old Testament.  He then established that no one should teach reincarnation directing the Council of Nicaea members (three hundred religious and political leaders of the time) to establish an ideology that would guide members to the church for salvation, thereby changing the world’s view of life after death.

This background information is to establish that most Western people do not have an in-depth belief in reincarnation.  They identify this ideology as one from the East.  However, this was not always an ideology specific to the East.  It was believed, practiced and taught by almost all organized religions.  They unilaterally believed, that the soul return to a dimension other than our own until such time that it chooses to return in a new physical body.  If this is truly an old belief, why then does it enrage so many and invokes with great passion, retributions such as that forced upon the ruling cardinals of 545 A.D. to draft a papal decree stating that anyone who believes that souls come from God and return to God will be punished by death;

“If anyone asserts the fabulous preexistence of souls, and shall assert the monstrous restoration which follows from it: let him be anathema.  (the Anathemas against Origen), attached to the decrees of the Fifth Ecumenical Council, A.D. 545, in Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, 2d ser., 14:318).”

For those who don’t believe, I ask why not?  Why do you suppose we are born to live a singular lifetime and only learn what we are exposed too within it?  Would it not make more sense, that our soul has been here before and with each lifetime comes a series of lessons?  Our soul gathers the cumulative knowledge from each life as we return from our physical adventures to a place of peace, meant for resting between lifetimes.  If you believe in an omnipotent being that created us and this universe, why would such a being only construct us for a single life?  What do you do if the singular life you have, happens to be a difficult one or maybe a down right crappie one?  Do you get angry if you don’t come into this world as Bill Gates, but rather the child born to no father and a mother infected with HIV, no food, no home and no family?  Wouldn’t it make more sense that we have hard lifetimes mixed with good lifetimes to solidify the lessons we are meant to learn from?

I believe that we are an accumulation of all of our lifetimes.  That we add to our base of knowledge by our experiences.  We can learn when we are resting between lifetimes, but we learn more when we interact with other souls, here in this earthly realm.  That being said, I’ve come to understand that we agree to the lessons we are set to learn in each lifetime.  Understanding the lessons we must learn and the path of the life we are set to endure, we choose the family that will best establish our experiences.  For the most part, we choose souls that we’ve experienced in other lifetimes.  We come into each lifetime as an established being that will best serve our learning the lessons we agreed to learn: male, female, straight, gay, color, nationality, ideology, etc. will all be established to meet the needs for those lessons we must discover.

When you view life in this manner, I have found that it is easier to understand the arduous experiences that some of us endure.  When you question why you are with a family, it is easier to accept that you chose them in service to your needs in teaching you the lessons that you agreed to learn.  When we understand life in this manner, it changes how we view the harshness of some of our lessons.  None of this will ever remove the greatest gift we’ve been given, “FREE WILL.” We can choose to remain on the journey that was established or we may decide on a different path.  However, I have found that life is so much easier when you don’t fight the path you need to be on, and yet, I know that it is always our rights to change our fait.

Life is meant to be a wonderful and amazing experience for us.  Our souls excel when you learn the lessons you are meant to learn and teach those lessons that you can teach.  This knowledge is written from the perspective of a belief in God (an Omnipotent being), but if you are not of the faithful, please accept that in the life you now live, it may best serve your needs in not believing.  That will always bring us back to a common place that says LOVE, HONOR and RESPECT all who surround you.  They may be in a different position, learning lessons that you’ve already learned.  It may be you who is learning the lessons that those around you have already digested.  We can learn every lesson with love, or we may need to learn them through harm, hate, anger or misery.

These articles are building a base of knowledge (A Series: LESSONS FOR LIFE), we all start from the same place as exactly the same thing…..a SOUL.  Our goal is to end at exactly the same place and that is an enlighten soul with grace.  The only way to obtain our destination is to learn all of the lessons we must learn.  If we do not learn our lessons in this lifetime, we will learn them in another.  Some lessons can only be taught with distress, while some may only be taught with love, but we are the accumulation of all that we learn.

Your humble servant – Todd M Dobson

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Lessons for Life ~ The Golden Rule Sunday, Jul 5 2009

4^th of July 2009

Series called:

LESSONS FOR LIFE ~ THE GOLDEN RULE

It is no mistake that almost every religion and most organized ideologies, such as Buddhism, have a similar saying; “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”.

This phrase is known by many as the “Golden Rule,” and it says something that Buddhism, Christianity, Confucianism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Taoism, Ancient Greek philosophy, Wiccan and even Paganism all have similar phrases.  Do unto others as you would have them do unto you is the verse used by Jesus Christ as depicted in the Bible, Chapter Luke.  It is one of the more common ways to quote this passage.  The reason this phrase is so important, when we start thinking of all people as much as we think about ourselves; we grow exponentially.

Taoism:

“The sage has no interest of his own, but takes the interests of the people as his own.  He is kind to the kind; he is also kind to the unkind: for Virtue is kind.  He is faithful to the faithful; he is also faithful to the unfaithful: for Virtue is faithful.”

A great lesson we must learn in life is that we are not alone.  We must care as much about those who walk with us, as we do for ourselves.  We become so focused on our needs, what to do for our children and what is in our own best interests, that we forget there are others souls inhabiting this planet with us.  We are so busy with work, family and what we consider living life, that we don’t know our neighbors.  We don’t know their names or anything about them, much less if they need our help.  We must get to know our neighbors and learn to care as much about them as we do for ourselves.

Judaism:

“That which is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow.”

Before you do anything to your fellow being, would you take the same action against yourself?  If you would not consider the same act against yourself, you should not take that action against your neighbor.  Much of what we do against others is done out of fear.  Fear and not hatred is the leading instigator that perpetuates harm and the killing of fellow souls.  If the act is not that which you would do to yourself without fear, then it should not be done against others, especially in the presence of fear.  The only thing we fear is fear itself.

Islam:

“Hurt no one so that no one may hurt you.”

To be a good steward of humanity, we must make choices that show our own individuality and yet we must also ensure all persons are able to do the same.  That will not always be easy, but we must find a way and the means.  Humanity will never survive if we think solely about ourselves.  We must think, act and learn to love all others as much as we do ourselves.

Confucianism:

“Never impose on others what you would not choose for yourself”

If we are to live in accordance to the Golden Rule, we must learn to Love all others as much as we Love ourselves.  Love is the greatest lesson that we can possibly learn or teach.  The next time you make a choice that places you adverse to another, take a moment to answer this simple question: would I do this to myself or would I like if they did the same to me?  If you cannot answer that question easily, you should rethink the action you are about to take.

Baha’I Faith:

“Ascribe not to any soul that which thou wouldst not have ascribed to thee, and say not that which thou doest not.”

Your humbled servant – Todd M Dobson

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