John Edwards abandoned his bid for the presidency of our great country today, and as we resign ourselves to not seeing him in the White House, I have deep concerns we’re also resigning ourselves to no universal health care. Since leaving a staff job a little more than a year ago, I’ve come to painful awareness of the costs of health insurance and medical care in the States. Although the mortgage debacle is ruining people who gambled with their homes, medical costs ruin people who never chose to be ill. There are more bankruptcies due to medical expenses than any other single reason, and they don’t occur only to people who gamble with their health. It could be you… it could be me. I hope we will all continue to press for this important policy.

Following a brilliant birthday celebration for my daughter in Northern California this past weekend, we passed through Napa Valley en route to balm for both soul and body at the Calistoga hotsprings. Nothing can diminish my enjoyment of hotsprings, but wine tasting, the original raison d’etre for a visit to Napa? What a disappointment! When I first came to California in the ’80s, wine tastings in Napa were an adventure. We’d cruise up and down Route 29 and Silverado Trail admiring the stunning valley, vibrant with brilliant yellow mustard blossoms against the backdrop of the often misty hills, and stopping at any winery that captured our fancy. Pourers were genial and tastes were generous, and there was an air of exploration about the whole endeavor. Grateful for their generosity, we lay down cash for at least a bottle at each winery, thus stocking our larder for the coming year.

In later years, wineries began charging three or four or five dollars for tastes, and that seemed fair, although we bought less wine.

Yesterday, since it was after 5pm, only a couple of wineries still welcomed visitors. We ventured into Peju’s new tasting room, replete with arched ceiling, stained glass, hardwood floors and stone appointments. It’s lovely. However, they announced we couldn’t start tasting, that the next series would be starting in a few minutes and please step into the next room and sample some mustards and chocolate sauces. We were summoned back into the tasting area shortly, lined up at the two tasting bars, and charged $10 for minuscule tastes of four questionable wines. The two with high pricetags were only marginally better than the early pours. Our server was a nice enough man, but better-suited to a boardroom or classroom than hosting a wine bar, and slow as the dickens; I’m happy to stick around if it’s entertaining, but the point of making customers wait for two sips and dragging the whole thing out for nearly half an hour is beyond me.

I feel so sad for anyone who missed out on the Napa experience as it was “back when.” You missed something quite special.

In this season of no award shows in Hollywood while the writers’ strike drags on, the nonprofit WriteGirl, of which I happen to be a member, presented Bold Ink Awards to half-a-dozen inspiring and successful writers at the Grammy Foundation 1/24. WriteGirl is a mentoring organization that works one-on-one with teen “at risk” girls who dream of becoming published. I can’t say they dream of becoming writers; as Callie Khourie, one of the Bold Ink honorees and author of successful screenplays like Thelma and Louise and The Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, pointed out, they already are writers. It’s the published part that’s tricky. WriteGirl gives them a head start on that too. Once yearly, for the past six years, we’ve publish an anthology of writings by the mentees. Our current release, Lines of Velocity, is available at writegirl.org. Hey, get yourself some good reading and help us compensate for the dwindling funds for education. Unlike the reality of our national education policy, the girls we mentor really don’t get left behind. Every single one has completed high school (in a district where the overall dropout rate is 50 percent), and nearly all have gone on to college.

Admittedly, I’m not an economist, but here’s my simple solution for solving our country’s financial woes: Stop spending money on imperialism, create new jobs for people in green and sustainable businesses that will alleviate our dependence on foreign oil, and stop giving tax breaks to the super-wealthy. Instead, put that tax money toward education so that our energetic and talented youth can make a positive contribution instead of being used as cannon fodder or killing each other before they even get out of high school. Our LA drop-out rate is 50 percent! And we wonder why the economy has problems? Think of what we’re spending on prisons, welfare, extra police protection and so one… cutting back funding for education is incredibly short-sighted. We’re being penny-wise and pound extremely foolish.

Would somebody like to explain to me why the American public went into a patriotic frenzy after 9/11 when the president launched a war against a country that had always been our friend, yet, when he hands $20 billion to the homeland of most of the terrorists who wrought that destruction upon us — Saudi Arabia — it’s business as usual? Is it because it’s business as usual for this administration… do what is expedient at the moment and consequences be damned?

Bringing that philosophy closer to home is Orange County sheriff Mike Carona. Carona was indicted months ago on felony corruption charges, for using his office for personal financial and political gain, and probably wouldn’t have resigned today except that he would have had to turn down yet another gift — free legal representation — were he still in office. Poor Carona, now he’s out of a job he exploited, but is he hurting financially? Nope. He’ll get a pension almost equal to his former $200K yearly salary for the rest of his life. And he’s only 51. Aren’t you happy to know where your taxes are going?

So remember how the pres told us all we should go shopping to show our loyalty after 9/11? Here’s a guy who is the antidote to shopping, Rev. Billy! Check him out at http://www.revbilly.com. This courageous (and slightly crazed) character walks into Victoria’s Secret with a bullhorn and tells customers to stop shopping, cause Vic’s slick ‘n’ sexy catalogues are raping Canadian forests. He’s right, of course. Shouldn’t there be signs in the window, right next to those little images of the credit cards they accept?

Credit card debt in the US, as of Christmas eve, was up 26 percent from last year. Experts say “the subprime mortgage is partly to blame” for our $920 billion in collective credit card hell. That makes sens; point the finger at an inanimate entity. No subprime is going to stand up and squawk, “It ain’t MY fault!” So who’s fault is it? The pres? Advertising? Social pressure? Maybe a little over-indulgence? There’s plenty of responsibility to go around. And sure, sometimes things really do get tough and I’ve been there, when you have to buy groceries with your credit card or you don’t eat. But I also think that as a nation, we’re pretty self-indulgent. Have you ever taken a vacation you were still paying for long after your tan faded? Was it worth it?

I kept hearing about Chris Matthews’ misogyny but it was always second-hand. Media Matters, a media watchdog, reports that Matthews’ has disparaged presidential candidate Hillary Clinton with insults like “she-devil” and “stripteaser,” but I hadn’t heard him myself. Last night, while on the treadmill at the gym (one of the few opportunities I have to watch his cable show), he suggested that if nominated by the Dems, Clinton would need some “male balance” on the ticket, a “regular guy” like Bill Richardson. Fabulous! It’s wonderful to see someone with such a broad reach supporting yin/yang balance, if not in those words. Shouldn’t we look for balance on every ticket? If a man is nominated, shouldn’t he ideally have a woman for a running mate? Conservatives are vehemently opposed to two men running a household, insisting on the male/female team, so why do they think it is okay for government, but not in the home? Once again, we have this tiny problem with consistency. It’s like being anti-abortion, saying it takes innocent lives, while being pro-war, which, even though it isn’t mentioned nearly enough in the media, destroys many, many innocent lives.

Okay, so the year is four days old. Can we still slide this under the radar? January is supposedly the low-energy month. After all those light-filled holidays, we ostensibly go into the dark time of the year. Usually I concur with this vision, but for some reason I’m filled with optimism this year. Maybe it’s related to the presidential primaries and the conviction that we’re going to drag ourselves out of the morass that has been created over the past seven, going on eight years. That anybody can look open-eyed and honestly at what has transpired and vote for more of the same (as clearly many did in the Iowa caucus last night) is a testament to the blindness of humans. Never mind, I believe reason will prevail.

Clarissa Pinkola Estes, author of “Women Who Run with the Wolves,” wrote: “One of the most calming and powerful actions you can do to intervene in a stormy world is to stand up and show your soul. Struggling souls catch light from other souls who are fully lit and willing to show it.”

So that is your assignment! Which reminds me, what are your new year’s resolutions? I don’t make them most years — maybe it’s my nascent commitment phobia. I’m a Pisces after all, and we fishies just never know when we might need to change our minds (notice how I snuck in that “need to”). Oh heck, let’s try a couple. I resolve to strengthen my connection (or at least the conversation) with my spiritual self, to do illuminating work (interpret that any way you want and it’s all true), to bring in more money than in 2007, and to share more than in 2007.

What are yours?

My cousin Carolyn sent me a YouTube link today: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDsIFspVzfI
This link has gotten more than 2 million hits, which on balance is probably a good thing. The geeky guy argues well for taking action to stop global climate change (GCC). But he’s also propogating a huge error that propogates fear. He suggests that if GCC isn’t real, or is as remote as some in our government and corporate America insist, but we take action anyway (since ostensibly we don’t know for sure), the worst that can happen might be global economic crisis (as opposed to decimation of the human race).

This is wrong thinking! There is plenty of money to be made in green technologies and sustainable business. It’s true that oil companies that refuse to explore alternative fuels may have to cash out with only the billions they’ve garnered from our war in the Middle East, but nations, corporations and individuals who have invested in alternative fuel and lifestyle will reap the benefit. We have to stop thinking doomsday and get creative!

If you haven’t seen Michael Moore’s latest film, “Sicko,” I recommend you rent it immediately, because it will help our population problem… you’re likely to hop the next plane out of Dodge. It’s difficult to watch this film without immediately wanting to book a flight to somewhere more humane in its medical treatment: France, UK, Canada and Cuba are mentioned in the film, but there are 36 countries that have better health care than we do in the US.
As a UK spokesperson points out in the film, “If you can find money to kill people, you can find money to help people.” If we weren’t wasting our resources on futile battles in the Middle East, we could give health care to everyone in this country. It’s shameful the way we put profits before people in our culture.