Friday

Classic Hikes of the World book review

I am not a book critic, but I am a hiker, not a very good one mind you, but one nevertheless. I looked at Peter Potterfield's 23 breathtaking treks book and I just had to get it. Here is why. Nothing has changed my life more than three treks I have made in my life. The Machu Pichu trail, Torres del Paine and one that is not featured in the book, the Camino de Santiago in Spain.
If you are a hiker you know that to do these walks, you have to train or do it all the time. I live in Houston so I hardly walk. I trained by going up and down the stairs of the high rise where I live. That was not enough! Trekking is serious business. Now I want to go to to the Everest Base Camp Trek and Potterfield has some great info on that. It is a 35 mile hike. He suggests it is difficult but you will have plenty of time to think, meditate and reflect. It will be a risky endeavor since the altitude unexpectedly can surprise you with extreme weather changes, lack of oxygen, and he says "cultural disorientation." What I like about this book is the different questions you get answered about logistics and strategy, hazards, seasons to go, the route you will take and what it will be like and finally the guides you'll need so you won't make a dumb mistake that could cost you your life.
I also like the fact that most of the trails he covers are in North America. Eleven are in fact featured. His top three are the John Muir trail in southern california, the Grand Canyon in Arizona, which I have flown but not hiked, and Chesler Park in Southern Utah. Come to think of it. I will stay in America first before I try going as far as Nepal. Yes...maybe I should train here and then go there! I better not wait too long. This book designed for trekkers of all abilities is not designed for trekkers who hardly walk or train, yours truly. I start going up and down the stairs this weekend! Yeah right.

Thursday

Illegal immigration on April 24th 7pm on HoustonPBS

What concerns you about illegal immigration? I will be moderating a live town meeting at Ch. 8 on April 24th at 7pm. This topic makes the headlines in waves. I have noticed in my lifetime how it upsets people on both sides of the fence and those like me who see and understand it is a very complicated topic, surrounded by myths, misundertandings, anger and lots of rhetoric.

There is no doubt we are living in a time of crisis. As a nation we may feel insecure about the future. I have always felt our government and business leaders have done little to really tackle the problem of illegal immigration. Therefore, some gain and some suffer but the problem continues to be unresolved. Please fell free to share how you feel about it here and let me share some of the questions people have asked about immigration in the past few weeks that may incite more dialogue. Please feel free to answer if you wish.

1. In a special report by the Texas Comptroller of Public account they concluded
"The absence of the estimated 1.4 undocumented immigrants in Texas in fiscal 2005 would have been a loss to our gorss state product of 17.7 billion. Tey produced 1.58 billion in state revenues which exceeded the 1.16 billion in state services they received. HOWEVER, local govrnemnets bore the burden of $1.44 billion of uncompensated health care costs and local law enforcement costs not paid for by the state."

If in fact immigrants who are here illegaly contribute to our economy why haven't political and business leaders found an effective way to legalize them?

2. Why are the undocumented educated freely and allowed to use medical services if they are here illegally?

3. The social security administration estimates that about 3/4 of illegal workers pay taxes that contribute to the overall solvency of social security and medicare. How is it they can pay taxes if they are here illegally? What happens to the 1/4 who don't pay taxes.

4. If we build a border fence, will that take care of the labor shortage problem? and those who overstay their tourist visas?


5. Do the uncodumented here illegally really help the economy by filling low wage jobs or are they just taking jobs from Americans?

6. Don't these immigrants also revitalize neighborhoods and create jobs by creating new industries within the nation? or are they just a drain on the local economy?

7. How do these immigrants help local businesses? How much money do they save them, since they don't have to pay insurance or social security? How do they help the american consumer keep prices low?

8. Why can't we make English the official language? Are these immigrants invading the nation and changing its culture?

9. Why can't they respect our laws? or wait in line like legal immigrants do?

10. If there are in fact no legal way for these low wage earners who come here illegally to work, is it fair to ask them to wait in line if there is no line?


11. If you could not feed your family, would you enter another country illegally to feed your children?

12. These immigrants came here illegally so they are criminals and many of them break the law with fake ID's, loan fraud, human trafficking, gangs etc.


13. These immigrants are the cause of overcrowded schools, traffic jams, gangs, fatal accidents etc.

14. They don't want to speak English and because of them it is no longer the official language.

15. We should not give them amnesty. They broke the law.

16. We should give them amnesty because we can't deport all 12 million of them.

There are many more comments and questions and you are welcome to share your view and watch our program which will also have a web component and will allow you to share your views and ideas and solutions on the topic.

BY THE WAY NEXT TWO SUNDAYS 3pm AND THURSDAYS 1pm ON LIVING SMART
Green Architecture which can save you money!!! LaVerne Williams
Learn how shame impacts all other emotions and how you can heal it!! Dr. Brene Brown

Friday

John Alexander at the MFA and why caring is important

Today I went to check out the new exhibit at the MFA Houston. The John Alexander, a retrospective exhibit was impressive. I am not an art critic, so let's start with that. My art experience is based on some studies in college and a visit to some of the great museums in the world, including el prado, the louvre and the Smithsonian, but I have to admit, I think I know good art when I see it.
Alexander was born in Texas. He says he began seriously painting when he moved to New York from Houston. In the past 4 decades, he's spent time chronicling the world around him. What I loved most about his work was his passionate stand on social, political and environmental issues. Like me, this artist hates hypocrisy and greed. The wonderful talent I found in this artist is his capacity to paint landscapes, animals and people brilliantly with a powerful message. To get the message you'll have to see the art. My favorite painting was called three little pigs. It is a satire about our politicians today. The other one I loved was high cotton. Alexander is adamant about reminding people the horrors of racism. This painting of the beautiful, aesthetic plant barely hides the chains which represent the horror of slavery.
John Alexander must be a complex, sensible and passionate man. I love artists who take a stand so if you ask me what I think. I will tell you. I like the guy. Go see his work if you have a chance in this great, awesome museum of ours, The museum of Fine Arts. His work will be there until June 22nd.
DON'T FORGET TO WATCH LIVING SMART THIS SUNDAY AT 3PM. Learn why it pays to be compassionate!

Tuesday

Compassion and why it matters

On April 13th at 3pm (repeats thursday April 17th at 1pm) Barbara Elliott will talk about compassion on Living Smart. I decided to do a show with her because I loved her book "Street Saints." It focused on people around the country who are doing "compassion" work. (I call it that) and often don't get the credit or the funds they need to continue their work. The strange circumstance is that I had featured two of the people in her book in other Living Smart shows without knowing there was a book written about them. These two people, John Sage and Marilyn Gambrell had not even told me they had been featured in a book, that's how selfless and extraordinary these two street saints are. Here are the two shows.

Marilyn Gambrell works with kids whose parents are incarcerated.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=555909220741570562

and John Sage created Bridges to life which reunites victim families with criminal inmates so they can learn from each other's pain and despair.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5669884262139741535

Barbara Elliott, a journalist, and author had made a decision to cover those who work in the trenches because she wanted to help them continue their work . She herself is a street saint. A few years ago she founded the working connection which helps people in transition from homelessness, drug addiction, prison and layoffs and people down in their luck who made the wrong decisions.

Americans are some of the most compassionate people on the planet but how do we make the right decisions on who and how to give? Elliott gives advise on this and reminds us we can make a difference, a great difference in other people's lives. She herself walks the talk. Once a week she mentors a child and knows full well, that child will benefit from her wisdom, her presence and her unconditional love. Compassion does not have to be someone else's job. It can be our job every day.

Wednesday

Jungian psychology and why climate change is not a hoax

This Sunday at 3pm and next thursday april 10th at 1pm James Hollis shares his incredible
erudite knowledge of why life can be so confusing and what to do about it!! I am really excited about this show because I am in my mid life and I ask the mid life crisis questions all the time? Why am I here? What am I doing? Does my life have a purpose? Why can't I get what I want and always fought for? His answer. Life is not easy and let me tell you why...I love it and hope you'll watch.


Have you read articles on global warming lately written by so called non profit organizations that in reality represent the oil industry? They supposedly do research and have successfully led us to beleive for years we really didn't have a problem and Al Gore and the majority of scientists around the world are crazy and don't know what they are talking about. So to them and many who believe them GLOBAL WARMING IS A HOAX!
Here are some facts for you
The Facts About Climate Change
FACT: Average global temperatures increased by about 1 degree Fahrenheit over the 20th century.
FACT: The United States contains only 5 percent of the world’s population, but contributes 22 percent of the world’s carbon emissions.
FACT: Between 20 and 25 percent of carbon emissions come from deforestation and land use change.
FACT: The Golden Toad (Bufo periglenes) is thought to be the first species to go extinct because of climate change.
FACT: Personal cars and trucks in the United States emit 20 percent of the United States' carbon emissions.
FACT: Air conditioning and heating account for almost half of electricity use in the average American home.
FACT: Climate change is linked to stronger hurricanes, more drought and increased coral deaths from bleaching.
FACT: Climate change is linked to an increase in disease-carrying pests that lead to the increased spread of diseases such as dengue fever, malaria, lyme disease and West Nile virus

Okay let's say global warming was not a problem. My question would be. Even if I am wrong, wouldn't I want to take a stand and drive less(remember gas prices) use alternative fuels (less wars) quit deforestation of our planet? Even if it wasn't true which I am certain it is a problem for us and the next generation, there are things we must become more consicous of. Diana Petrochelli shares some alarming facts about global warming in our Living Smart program that will air some time in June.