So, here's a question for all of (us) to answer for ourselves.
After all of the mud that was thrown into the race for the White House, after all the campaign bloopers we have seen over the years. After the scandals, the blame games, the finger pointing, passing the buck etc...are we all better than the ones running the country? Really?
What makes us better? What about the CEO's of the Big Auto industry? Did they get the right scolding for flying to Washington to ask for help? Ford's CEO drove a Hybrid back to kneel in humility and ask for the help he knows his company really needs.

We have barely elected our new "Chief" and the media, opposition parties (namely the GOP) has brought dirt into the new office. First and foremost....the "Holy Grail" of proof that Obama can legally occupy the office he was elected to run. Hawaii has delivered his birth certificate, but many out there do not belive the State officials. Look, he was fairly elected, the opposition LOST, markedly so. He is already experiencing the shoe of the prior occupant. I believe he has his work cut out for him. We have a failed, not failing, economy, national debt that continues to grow and without limits it seems. We owe almost all that we still have to China. We have 2 wars going on, bailouts on the horizon for many if not all of our economic standbys. Gas prices are falling, much like the stock market. I believe WE CAN make it. Sure, it seems bleak right now, cause we are allowing ourselves to believe the bleak outlook forced upon us by media, government forecasters and others. If it's up to us, the PEOPLE, we should remember that ALL civilizations have either supported their economies successfully over the years, or they have fallen. We had a depression, as many remember, either by history or experience. We too made it on the other sided of that. Not unscathed mind you, but stronger after the test of time.

We ARE on the verge of that fall again. Many businesses have fallen prey to the already obvious fact. We owe our souls to foreign oil moguls! Insurance is a joke, 401K's have fallen to the market woes. People have forgotten that we have to depend upon each other for support, not finances, but moral support. We can't allow our feelings and opinions lead us to our deaths. Look, our government cannot fix every issue for us. They also cannot be blamed for everything that is happening. Can we point our finger and wave it uselessly? Sure, why not, it just means that we are at the other end of the finger. Unless things go completely to the dogs in the next year, I plan on working at my job, trying to make the bills disappear, raise my child and support myself the ways I know how.

Songs, poetry, stories will emerge into our culture to remind future generations of our issues we now face. We are in uncertain times you and I. That is what makes us so alike, so close to family and community with the similarities we share. Yes, WE share this trying time we live in. That is what is SUPPOSED to happen when times get tough. Trouble is, people are so scared to trust their neighbors again. Can't say I blame 'em much.
Times are coming whether or not we choose to accept that truth. Times when families and friends will hunker together in the same house for severl months if not years, just to make the ends meet. Ride Share, public transportation, cost effectiveness will finally raise it's head into the mainstream lifestyles of even the rich. I say let the economy crash, maybe it will remind us all of how human we all really are after all.

Well bloggers and blog readers. It's been quite a while since last we wrote and read.
A lot has changed in my world since May. I am now back in the USA, working and living in Texas again. I am a fingerprint technician for the state of Texas, doing the same thing I was doing for our Govt, but on a local state level. I am taking fingerprints from our State educators and submitting them for background checks. Nice, safe, relatively secure career.
I get to see firsthand how our schools function, seeing as how I see our youth everyday, just not as a teacher. Fairly interesting to be sure.

I am currently becoming more involved with the Native American population in the area. I went to the Traders Village Pow Wow over the weekend. Got to see a lot of fancy regalia and the dancers wearing them. I felt so welcomed by the attendees and the vendors. They were all so warm and friendly to me. I even got to meet the staff and radio personalitites of the KNON "Beyond Bows and Arrows" radio show from Dallas, TX.
I have been invited to attend a Pow Wow in Weatherford, TX in October, the weekend of the 17-19th. I was even invited to dance on the behalf of my father, as he is a Veteran and will not be in attendance. Camping, dancing, reveling in the company of some very intersting cultures, that until now, had been very elusive to me.

I also did a sweat lodge on this past Saturday night with my good friend and room mate. We spent about 1 hour or so in sweat, lost a few pounds in the process as well, so all was good. It feels good to be toxin free, at least I feel great. I have no desire to put toxins back into my body at this point, save some coffee or the occasional soda. :)
I look forward to the next time I do sweat. It's very liberating and causes my thoughts to be pure, as well as my spirit being charged for a good amount of time afterwards.

I will post some pictures from the next sweat we do, so you that actually read my posts can view the progress as we experiment and try new ideas.

Peace, TO the Middle East (as I am no longer over in the thick of it all in Iraq)

So, I know it's been QUITE some time since my last post...LOTS has happened since Dec 1st I can tell you! I went home on vacation, to see the dentist and give him my hard earned cash, spend some money partying like a rock star, b uying a newer vehicle, Toyota 4Runner, getting new tattoo's and spending time with my son and my family. WOW, the 49 days I was home went quicker than I expected it to. But, now I am back in Iraq, since Feb 12th. I have moved out of Baghdad, since the beginning of April, since the insurgents decided they wanted to make my living area their bombing targets. Go figure eh? Bastards! So, I moved to Tallil, the City of Ur...Lot's of history and ancient civilizations to be remembered there. Such as: Sumerians, dating back as early as the 21st century BC...I saw, toured and took pictures of the site of the Ziggurat of Ur, the surrounding area with the House of Abraham and various other archaeological excavation sites to include: King Shulgi (circa 2048 B.C) What an humbling experience that was, I assure you...to walk in the sands around the old remains of the King of Sumer's palace, something many will never get to witness unless you come over here to work that is.

I will post some pics on here as soon as I figure out how to do that. Seeing as how I cannot post pics without my laptop or a thumb drive. Now, I am in transit to the northern most points of Iraq to the Nineveh Province, Tall'Afar. Interestingly enough, I get to possibly see other parts of biblical history in this area. Perhaps even some more of the Sumerian dynasty artifacts or ruins? I hope so. This has made my trip over here complete.

Well, I shall save more for later, no need in writing it all down this time.

Peace, FROM the Middle East.

Okay you guys and gals in blog land, prepare for my next rant. I forewarn you I will not hold back my opinions (as if that happens).

This concerns the "crisis" in Sudan over the Teddy Bear named Muhammed..Oh no, did I cause a stink over using the name of the oh so holy Muhammed? Seeing as how I am NOT muslim, I guess I am not allowed to use that name for anything? Come on, for crying out loud, who in the hell cares what the name of the friggin teddy bear was? I suppose the teacher should be put to death because she should have known better than to piss off the local population....hmmm, seems a bit radical for a peace loving religion.

So, if a Muslim decided to name their teddy bear or other dolly, Jesus, would that cause an uprising and possible lynch mob? Doubtful, but you never know, depending on if it took place in the Bible Belt or not. Depends on if the Muslim was a teacher or not. Supposing, for a minute that we ALL put down our guns and swords for a minute, perhaps we should examine the true reason for the issue.

Muslims are not allowed to use the name Muhammed or make any depiction of Allah in words, works or otherwise non-religious activities....But when it is done, and may I say, blatantly used to endear a stuffed animal to a CHILD, or classroom full might I add, it's all of a sudden cause to kill that person?! WTF, over?! If it's such an issue, why care about another person using that name at all? What's in a name exactly? Wherein does the problem really lie? Is it because the USA has caused such an outrageous politically correct example that now the rest of the world is trying to catch up and be like us? Have we gone so far to dis-allow the usage of a friggin name in everyday life? Come on! People.....for real......All you Muslims in and not in the USA, get used to the fact that we are going to use the names however we choose, no matter if it's sacreligious to your cause or not! Look at the misuse of the Christian Gods name. I mean, if we can use it to our own advantage or disadvantage depending on your point of view, then what makes you think we care about the proper use of another religions god? Why should we? It's all becomes very apparent to me that we care a little too much what the rest of the world thinks about us. No really. When did it all become a popularity contest?

You know what? In the end, or 30 years from now, who is really going to give a rats ass? Not me. I don't give a crap now!
Do I care about religious rights? Yes I do. I care that everyone now has to walk around on eggshells fearing the repercussions of a "peaceful" culture just because they can't stand the fact that their god had a Prophet and somehow that gives them a copyright on the name. So, what if someone decided to call the Teddy Bear Samuel? Or Elijah, Elisha, Peter, John, Judas....You get my point?

So, in the end the poor teacher gets 15 days in jail, if the mob doesn't get to her first and kill the poor lady. Sheesh, look at the mess our race has gotten us into. We are a poor example to the rest of the universe to be sure. If there IS extra terrestrial life outside our galaxy, take warning, stay away from earth, you may get jailed or killed for using the name earth for your stuffed animals.

That is all!

So, to all you readers out there, I AM still living. LOL. I just took some time to gather thoughts to post as a new blog. I am enjoying the quiet nature of the "cease fire" that currently exisists here in Baghdad. Although if you asked other military or higher up folks, they would say otherwise. Since I got here, there has been no significant cause for alarm. Nice to know.

I have hooked up with a few fellow musicians and we play weekly, up to 3 times per week. We are called..."The Baghdad String Benders". We play a mixture of Bluegrass, Country, Gospel (the sittin on yer porch evenin singin that your granparents told you about) some classic rock, top 40 pop once in a while, only, we do it in one of Saddams old palaces. Ironic, don't you think?
So, quite a diverse bunch. We have 2-3 guitarists at any given time, Nathaniel Sears, Abby Bradley, Toby Stell, Vincent Foulk guitar and mandolin/mandola, Bernie Poindexter Banjo, til he left to go back to the USA. Anyways, it keeps the boredom at bay, for the most part.

So, I'm going to try and post a picture of the band taken on the last night we were all together, before Bernie left.

Till next time, BLOG ON!!

Peace, FROM the Middle East.

So, I'm over seas in Iraq now. I can say this, it's not as shaky as I thought it would be. I do know a couple of things...1.when you hear a BOOM! it's very likely you need to duck and cover. 2. I don't know too much about the SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) of every loud bang I hear, 3. when you see someone running out of their housing to the cover bunker, you should follow suit. LOL!
Anyways, while over here, I plan on blogging as often as I can to keep those of you tuned into my thoughts aware of what's going on, with care of course. I know I can't tell all that goes on over here, to do so would violate some kind of silence order I think. :P
Hopefully I can achieve some kind of peace or some epiphone while I'm here. Maybe even pen a few lines of prose or new songs? Who knows.
I will try to keep current so those that, again, are tuned in, will know how I am doing.

Till then,
Peace.

Newest career endeavor. So, here I am, living in Oklahoma, working on some of the most beautiful land in the country (80 acres to be exact). Living with my folks, close to my family etc. I get to work a short lived part time job that goes into 1-2 days per month (SUCK). When all of a sudden, (of course, here's where I can't exaggerate details, cause I've actually thought about this move in careers for a while). I decide to put my resume in to this "head hunter" that my buddy got a job through. So, I write an email to this human resources lady in Texas. I send her a resume`. I wait for a couple of weeks before I decide to follow up on it, cause I don't want to be pushy, right? So I write an email to her again. It seems I am not getting a response, so I stepped up my efforts...Wait, hold up....Back up the info bus!

Take you back a few months to the time when I first got the heads up on this job. Before I even moved up to Oklahoma from TX. I sat on this email from my buddy for almost 4 months before I even acted on this hot job possibility. It gave me time to think about things, consider other options, other job offers, snort, what other job offers?! Yeah, I know, no cynicism allowed. Okay....So, after I sent this HR person my resume` a 2nd time, I finally got a response. I'm to be scheduled for a telephone interview. Okay, no problem, I can handle that okay, I give good phone. (got the ability from years on a phone in a customer service realm. So, the interview happens, I felt pretty good about it. I am told that after the interview I can expect a few days perhaps in between time that I hear back about the next phase. So, later on the SAME DAY, I get this phone call. It's another HR lady telling me the company wants to have me fly into their headquarters in Virginia for an interview, face to face. Well, imagine that......
So, they paid for the flight I paid for the hotel (that's another rant entirely) I get a job offer the next day before I leave to come back to Oklahoma. Well, after talking to my folks the night before and several weeks before that, I had already accepted the offer before they made it. Well, they had hired me based on the phone interview, and perhaps a referral from my good buddy. THANKS GOOD BUDDY!!

Cut to the now, the present, the well, right here. LOL! I now have 2 weeks before I fly back to the east coast to train for my new career. I'm flying to West Virginia first for 3 days, then to Georgia for another week, then...Well, I can't say exactly where cause I don't rightly know exact details until I get my itinerary, but I assure you, the compensation package is DAMN!!!!!!!!!!!! You know what I mean? I mean, some folks never see this kind of money except in dreams, okay? Yeah, it's that good. Anyways....Just wanted to share in my excitement. I will be out of touch for about 4-5 months, depending on my itinerary (again that word haunts me) ;)

I will definitely stay in touch though.

Peace to all.
Toby