I live in California, and I was not amused to hear Enron executives laughing at us during telephone conversations, so this short essay is not about sympathy.  But I do find it interesting and curious that Enron founder, Kenneth Lay, is dead this morning of a massive heart attack.

     One of the principal risk factors for coronary disease is chronic stress and depression.  For most of us, conviction on six counts of fraud and conspiracy, and on four counts of bank fraud, would do the trick for both chronic stress and depression, not to mention the pending sentencing!

     Our prisons are packed with many people, white collar, blue collar, and  no collar alike, who seemingly suffer little chronic stress or depression for their crimes.  There are all kinds of people, both nobodies and important somebodies alike, who rip us off evey day.  Some of these rips-offs are carried out in brutal fashion, and some are petty scams.  Rip-offs all the same.

     So it's interesting to me that perhaps Kenneth Lay tried his best to be a cold, sociopathic scam artist, but ultimately could not pull it off. His heart finally cracked and BROKE.  I wouldn't necessarily call it poetic justice, but perhaps it's a testimonial that our hearts play a larger role in our makeup than we imagine or want to acknowledge.  And that would give us all a little more HOPE.

     It'd be one of those critical mass phenomenons if other world leaders would pay attention to Ken's fate as he LAYS in rest.  Hey, all you world leaders out there, who are shooting off rockets and waging wars, the REST of us are DYING to lay at rest and PEACE.  DO YOUR HEARTS A FAVOR AND GIVE US A BREAK!  

     On Tuesday, we celebrate the beginnings of our freedom in this country.  Happy Independence Day!

     How does one really know if he or she is FREE?  Well, I got to thinking that one of the ways I might know if I'm free is by measuring my capacity to LOVE!  And if there is any validity to this measure, then an outsider might question whether, as a country, we have achieved any level of freedom since 1776.  There are SO MANY people we still HATE, some of whom are fellow citizens.  We still feel quite justified in doing away with any number of people because they deserve to be done away with for any number of "legitimate" causes.  We don't even flinch when we talk about "collateral damage."  We are quick to label some folks as "inhuman" which then justifies our "need" to do away with them.

     So perhaps we are NOT very free afterall.  INDEPENDENT, perhaps, but FREE?  M-m-m.  Don't think so!  All that aside, have a HAPPY FOURTH!