Sell Detroit.

OK, you are probably worried about the economy right? Who isn't. With all the joblessness and underemployement out there it is getting to be a scary world. So what do we do. One thing that makes me loose my cool is when I hear some airhead at a dinner party say: "Well, at least they're doing something!" I like to think that we pay the political elite to do the "Right Thing." So what is the right thing to do in our current economic mess. We need money to pay for all the economic malfeasance. We don't need to saddle our children with debt. We don't want to print money until our dollar is worthless, along with our retirement savings. So what is the right thing to do?

Sell Detroit. OK, here's how it works. Remember your history lessons from high school? You know the ones where they talked about the Lousiana purchase. That is a prime example of why we need to sell Detroit. At the time, the French under Napolean's leadership, were fighting just about everybody. And they needed money for to pay for the war.

Now Napolean had just wrested control on the Lousiana territory from Spain. It was worth a bunch. The problem was he couldn't very easily put it up for bids now could he. The British were not about to give Napolean a bunch of money to keep on fighting him. The Russians were to self absorbed to bother. Spain has just lost control to the French. So about the only people left were the Americans. Napolean needed money, and not the problems that came with adminstrating a large territory across the ocean full of Spaniards that most likely didn't even know Spain had lost control of the territory. Americans were all about Manifest Destiny and making their rightful place in the world. We certainly didn't want the English to get their hands on such a prize because then they could block our access to the port of New Orleans, and access to the Missippi river. For that matter, the French could do the same. So, Napolean sold the territory to us (US) three weeks after wresting control from Spain, for a meager $15,000,000.

Fast forward to 2009. Detroit can't seem to build a car that Americans will drive, and is sucking billions of dollars OUT of the US treasury just to stay afloat. Canadians on the other hand seem to have a great affection for Detroit iron. They also don't seem to mind ripping the ore out of the ground to build the beasts, or providing the oil to run them down the road. So, why not save the billions we're dumping on that vacation paradise and instead sell that veritable oasis for a few hundred billion to put back in the treasury?

I decided not to try to finish this thought later. It seems that nobody cares.

Out of Grief, Can Come Joy

Three months ago I traveled to Utah to see my father for the last time. I visited in October, and his health was obviously in decline at that time. When he fell and broke his arm and hip my sister Laurie urged me to come back, which I did. Dad waited until the entire family was there before he passed away. That was true to form for Dad. He was a peacemaker and always willing to make a sacrifice, big or small, if it would make this easier or convenient.

Two days after I arrived, Dad passed away in his sleep the evening of November 3, 2008. The days that followed were almost surreal: the whole family meeting up at the mortuary to plan Dad’s service; seeing Dad for the last time; touching his cold head and giving him one last kiss. Knowing that he was finally at peace.

You see, my Dad was in pain. Not a physical pain, as he was blessed with fairly good health. No, Dad missed my Mom. Mom passed away just a few months prior to the tragedy of September 11, 2001. I remember thinking at the time how much anguish that event would have caused Mom. Instead Mom was spared having to worry about those troubling events. Mom passed away in an instant to the total surprise of the family. A car accident took her life on day she was coming home from her hair appointment. That turned out to be one of the darkest days of Dad’s life.

(I'll finish this thought later as I have other things to do right now. My theme is that Dad's death caused me to re-new my relationship with my family and that has brought me a lot of joy these past few months. I find myself thinking about and reaching out to my sisters and brothers a lot more. It has also caused me to re-examine my life with my own children.)