Wednesday, June 22, 2011

The Olympian Onion Throw

 

I had the joy of watching my kid the other day.  My second son just turned 2 recently.  He is really into apples, he loves them.  And for some reason he thought onions would be just as tasty.  So he bit deeply into the succulent layers of the onion as he would any apple.  Now he being young in age, small in stature and ignorant regarding the taste of onions, decided to show his dislike for this onion.

He didn’t just throw this onion, he launched it like a mortar.  Much to my amazement he went over to it again and proceeded to degrade and berate it for being in his life.  Granted, it was all in toddler-speak so I understood not what the wee lad was saying.  The intent of his verbal thrashing was quite clear though.  He wanted this onion to know its place in the universe, that it was beneath him and that it definitely didn’t belong near him, especially in his mouth.

I had no idea my little kid was pint-sized dragon of Scottish fury.

The fun part of this is that I warned him as he was looking at it.  I warned him that it wasn’t going to taste good and that the spice was going to cause him some discomfort.  He is a toddler with a well developed sense of selective listening.  So of course with the willing ignorance of a toddler he bit into this onion like he would an apple not only to find the taste unpleasant but the spicy aftermath of his decision.  He was quite put out to say the least.  Hence the utter rejection of the onion in question.

We can learn lessons from my onion-hating child.  Recently we passed Obamacare in this country.  The supporters of this bill did their best to paint it like an appetizing apple.  You can sugar coat an onion, but the end result is something more disgusting than the original onion.  The sugar is gone, and all you have is onion left over.  Plus the newfound feeling of anger after the realization of being flimflammed by a group of silver tongued devils.

Let me be clear, this is not a debate of what is or is not healthy for a child.  I use this only as a prop and a background to illustrate my point.

We were told many nice things about this health care bill before it was signed into law.  Probably the most notable being that there would be no rationing of care.  Turns out there was rationing built into the bill.  I personally read aspects of the bill to find out that there isn’t a death panel per se, but if you reach a certain age you get to have “advanced care” planning sessions which are mandatory every five years.  Also there is a special commissioner that you have to submit reasons to receive care after a certain age.  Smells fishy, why on earth would I need to submit a reason to live to some commissioner?  Here is a better variant on the above question- Why should I have to submit reasons to live to some commissioner?  Don’t I have a right to live and pursue happiness or something to that effect?

There is another fun aspect of the health care bill.  Apparently they now require all of your account information for every banking institution in order to make real time claim adjustments.  On the surface it seems fairly benign, altruistic even.  The obstacle is this, I do not trust the government’s ability to manage my funds on any level.  Having been in the military I have had to deal with pay problems numerous times.  I already have to keep the bank in check, with this I have to deal with an even more obnoxious opponent in regards to my money.  I don’t do auto-pay for a reason with any card.  The idea of the government with instant access to my cash to make withdrawals or deposits is a frightening aspect to deal with.

And so once the onion is bitten and the truth is discovered, of course we are trying to get rid of this thing! 

Make ready the onion cannon!  Launch that onion far, far away.

If only our house representatives  and the senate had the fervor to do such a thing.  The house made a largely symbolic move to repeal it.  Basically they identified who was for the health care law and who was against it.  They drew the line in the sand.  Apparently that was it though.  They still are working with the cretins who put this thing in place.  They have been distracted by important issues like a budget battle, but have bypassed a critical issue.  Priorities are mixed up a bit.

The republicans in the house own the house.  The best thing they could do is nothing.  That’s right, just do nothing.  Pass no other legislation, no votes on budgets, debt ceiling nonsense, or any other topic for that matter.  Just bring everything to a grinding halt.  The liberals do it all the time and it works.  Republicans can do it, they just aren’t doing it.  If republicans bring congress to a screeching halt they can get their way.  They control where the money goes, so why not yank funding from every bill that passes your way until they get the law repealed?  They were sent to do a specific job, and they tried, just not very hard it seems like.

We pondered the stupidity of former Congressman Wiener for roughly 2 weeks in the media because he apparently has fairly promiscuous and adulterous hobbies.  No wonder we aren’t making progress on important issues like the health care law.  Deliberate misdirection if you ask me.

Perhaps they say they want it repealed but are otherwise content with it.  This seems like the most obvious case.  If they really wanted it repealed it would be done by now.  They can sit on the wallet and their hands and their opponents hands but they do not do it.  The liberals have in the past and would happily do it again if it gave them what they want.

Democrats are the left wing, Republicans are the right wing.  Problem is that they are both wings of the same bird.

But the bird is a vulture.

Vultures will patiently circle a dying creature for days if need be waiting for the banquet to begin.  Once it’s dead it’s fair game and chow time.  America is not invincible, right now America is quite vulnerable.

Friday, June 10, 2011

Oh the Glorious Union…

 
I usually don’t rag on something unless I see the need for it to be ragged upon.  This time however, it’s personal.  It comes out of my check and I get zero say in the matter, because others have taken the liberty to remove my choice in the matter…needless to say this vexes me greatly.

It goes back to the idea of somebody else knowing what is best for me regardless of said person never even knowing me.  Forget the fact that I am a grown man who can do his own taxes (okay so the wife does it), ties his own shoes, and has managed to stay out of jail his entire life.  This person who doesn’t know me assumes I lack the above mentioned life skills.

Let’s do some math.  $1600 a month gross.  Not stellar, but it will suit my family’s needs.  The wife and I are frugal people who frankly don’t go out to eat or do much in the way of spending money on entertainment.  We entertain ourselves, but not to the point of financial risk.  It doesn’t take money to have a good time, in fact I can remember several times where I spent money and wanted a refund on my life.

The last job I had paid the exact same, only I had the privilege of paying about $350-ish a month in gas alone just to get there and back each day.  At first when I got this job we were thrilled because hey, we just saved 350 bucks or so a month by being able to walk to work.  We were elated.  That is 350 extra bucks towards our minivan payment.

They say the devil is in the details.  This just happens to be the insidious truth of this particular matter.  1600 bucks a month gross isn’t too shabby for pushing a mop at the facility in question.  My beef is when they said “union”.  I immediately felt my pulse and temperature rise.  However, I managed to keep my calm.

The wage was more than perfect, until the union takes their slice out of it.  Mandatory 125 dollar membership fee, plus 36 bucks every month until I find another job or quit, that is just to be a member of this….thing.  And thanks to the marvelous union bargaining nonsense I have to contribute 6.9% to a retirement fund which I never plan to see a return on.  I say this because apparently the states don’t know how to run one properly-check the news.  It gets better, now I also have to shell out 435 bucks a month for health insurance that I didn’t want in the first place.

You might say “Chill out Daniel, you’re getting a stable job with great benefits and two different pensions to draw on when you retire, ease up man.”.  I can see why others might say that.

Here is my side of it.  We all already have insurance coverage.  We don’t need to pay extra for something we already have.  And when you have two different insurance companies they love to fight over who has to pay the bill.  In the mean time the bill doesn’t get paid, and you the consumer, are left on the hook for the bill.  Any wife knows this, and almost inevitably the wife is left to call both insurance companies up and make them do their job.  More isn’t always better, but it’s almost always more complicated than it needs to be.

The retirement plan is a joke, a sick joke at that.  Let me decide what I will do with my money.  I am intruded upon continuously by their mandating the spending of my earned cash.  This really irks me to a degree which words fail to deliver.  If I choose to invest my money, I will do so.  Frankly I have seen just how reliable these pensions are in the news recently, I think I’ll wait for a better option.  State run pensions are a disaster when they are run improperly.  Unfortunately most are run improperly.  A perfect example is social security, a federal pension for everybody.  I received a letter from the Government regarding my pension where they openly admitted to being short of funds.  I could only expect 71 cents out of every dollar I was supposed to get.  So basically they screwed up with my money. 

Mistakes happen, I understand people are human and mess up sometimes.  Simply put this is my beef, they never asked me if they could take my money- they just took it.  If I don’t pay into social security men with weapons will come and take me away for a lengthy amount of time.

I’ll put it this way, a couple hundred years ago a bunch of people in colonies got pissed off about taxes being raised.  They killed people over it.  It isn’t about money; it’s about food.  When you reduce my income you reduce my food supply.  When I can’t feed my kids and wife gears start to turn.  Rarely when these particular gears turn do they produce anything kind or forgiving.  So we adapt.  My loving and industrious wife now grinds wheat and makes our bread to cut down on costs.  My point is that we can only adapt so far before I start feeding my kids poached meats and eventually Cannibal Big Mac’s.  Let’s face it.  I am a predatory creature.  My eyes are in the front of my skull for a reason.  I have canines and incisors for a reason.  When the young get hungry, the parents find food wherever they can get it and will eventually do anything to get it.
Back to the math. 1600 *6.9%= 110.4 that is for the mandatory retirement that I never wanted nor will I ever see.  1489.6-435=1054.6 for the health insurance that is going to complicate my life more and also another thing I didn’t want in the first place.  Lastly, the all-important-ever-invasive-dictated union dues. 1054.6-36=1018.6 being my taxable income per month.  We’ll say Uncle Sam is kind; we’ll say he only takes 5%. 1018.6*5%= 50.93,  which gives us a whopping 967.67 bucks a month to live on.  Keep in mind that I have a family of 5 including my grubby self.

The Union says it has my best interest in mind.  Sick thing is this, I believe that they really do believe they are doing what is best for me.  There is only one problem with their plan; They Are Wrong.  This might be tolerable for anybody who doesn’t have a family.  Even then they would struggle because 967 bucks a month doesn’t amount to much.

Not all unions are bad.

The unions have their good points too.  The formation of unions shows that the power is in the people and people can make things happen.  Kudos to the people.

People wanted to defend themselves from merciless capitalists who would chain children to factory machines. Unions gave people more family time, a better wage, protection from retaliation by superiors and so on.  These are all good things…within reason.

There are some employers out there who need to get thrashed for bad practices against employees.  I have worked at some places where I gambled my life everyday.  I have also worked at places where I couldn’t do my job effectively because of union mandates. 

Most unions have lost their way and corrupted their original purpose.  Unions seem like they were designed to work only for a while, flounder a little longer like a turd that just won’t flush and then finally meet its pre-destined demise.  Want some facts?  Here is a link to a government page that illustrates that private sector union membership is shrinking.  The private sector only does things when they are profitable, more effective, or because the laws dictate them to do so.  Anyways, here is that site.

Unions formed in response to something that needed combatting.  This was admirable and necessary.  However, once the dragon is slain, just get back to doing business as usual.  Unions should not invent problems to keep themselves in power.  If somebody has a problem at work now days they can just call any one of the abundance of lawyers out there and usually the problem will stop instantly.  Threatening somebody with legal action is fairly formidable these days.

These aren’t just my thoughts either.  Here is another site says that unions are basically job destroyers.  They harm the company which in turn harms the employees.  Backwards, eh?  Take a look over here for some enlightenment on the topic.  The video at the bottom of the page is very informative.

Forbes even pitched in their two cents.  And not surprisingly they predict the
demise of unions as well.  They too illustrate the job destroying practices of unionized work forces.  Sure you get paid more as a union worker but you squeeze the company.  Then the company hires less people and eventually the company can’t compete with others in its field.  Eventually, the workers (unionized or not) are pitched over board in massive layoffs in a desperate and futile attempt to save the company.  You can check out the article here.

And the fun fact is this- I bet you that the lawyer involved in correcting an abusive company is in…
…the non-union private sector.
Beautiful… just beautiful.

Monday, June 6, 2011

One of the Oldest Professions

When times are tough regarding economics, people start to get a little frugal.  Amen.  It goes to show what we really need.  I think that a little humility is good for everyone.

So what happens when people get humbled for too long?  Well for starters I don't think that there is such a thing as being humbled for too long.  However there is a form of abuse called neglect.  Most often referred to when children are involved with poor parenting/guardianship.  How does this correlate to the current economic and political atmosphere?

I can give you my story.  I worked a job like any other working stiff out there.  Just doing my part to provide for the family and save some cash to go to school with.  Even if I have VA educational benefits I like to prepare for their inevitable stupidity.  They pay late, they forget to pay, or they over pay and give me a loan I didn't ask for and the list goes on.  Anybody who has dealt with them knows just how slovenly they are about getting things done right the first time.  Hence the reason why I am saving. 

Worked at this place for a time, about six months.  Boss calls me in, says he wants to talk to me.  It's Monday, but still the little red button in my mind says "Danger Will Robinson!".  He says I am a good employee but I am inexperienced where they need me and that I am overqualified for what I am currently doing.  Nice way of saying "hey, you're fired".  Kind of surprised actually, usually they like to fire people on Fridays.  Less chance of an incident on the news when people get to simmer down over a weekend.


The sad thing is this, I couldn't agree with him more.  I don't know much about diesel mechanics.  I wanted to learn.  The commercial environment wasn't exactly accommodating for learning though.  Trucks stop by, and want to get out of dodge and back on the road.  This doesn't leave much time for teaching.  They said they would teach me, but they more or less they tried.  Just not enough time to learn in six months what takes about 2 years to learn.

I can honestly say I am overqualified to play the part of the glorious parts runner as well.  I get things from point A to point B.  When I am not doing that I helped out in the shop as much as I could with limited knowledge.  However, when things get slow you find things to do to make yourself useful.  There is a limit though, you can only sweep the shop and clean up so much before you are seen for what you are-  a drain on the corporate clock.

I don't blame them.  I'd have fired me too.  Low guy on the totem pole, the new guy.  No misgivings from my end.

So what do I do now?  Millions of Americans are asking themselves this very question.  And more often these days it seems.  I file for unemployment, look for work and go to interviews.  Now in the part of the country I live in it is fairly clannish.  It's a small town, and they look after their own.  Nothing is really wrong with that.  Hell, I do the same thing in my social circles.  But I still gotta make a living, and when they locals are busy hiring their relatives it becomes very apparent that my looking for work in the local area is largely symbolic.


The wife and I planned for this.  I saw the writing on wall at work and realized I would be the first to go.  I just did my best to make sure I could stretch it out as long as I could.  I got three fantastically destructive children that need feeding and a wife that need to be supported as well.  Kind of have to make it last while I can.  So now that it happened what have I been doing?

I have applied to jobs obviously.  And since I am still blogging I have obviously not met with some success.  While putting in an honest effort to look for work I am also preparing to answer the call of one of the most ancient professions.

Nope, not farming.  Don't have the equipment, time, or expertise for that.  Not becoming a prostitute for reasons identical to farming and the additional moral implications.  Not a politician for similar reasons.
I am going back to Soldiering, well sort of.  I spent some time in Utah training for an instructor's certificate in a martial system.  Teaching others to fight and win, but also to avoid said conflict.  Teaching is a perfectly honorable profession, but it also depends on what is being taught as well.  In the times we live in, crime is going to get worse.  When economics go down hill, crime goes up.  Not saying that is a law of nature.  However it is seen as a fairly historical trend when you look at the books.

I dug this up to prove my point.  It is an old statement, but the truth of it has no expiration date.  Check it out here.  Now one thing I want to clear up before I proceed.  Poverty does NOT cause crime.  Committing crime is a personal choice.  Millionaires commit crimes too.  It comes down to personal accountability.  I believe that those who make up the vast majority of our prison population are simply there because they lack sufficient impulse control.  For the same reasons they will never be wealthy people.  It takes discipline to build a company, and run it successfully.  Even with discipline the odds are against you.  Most business ventures fail, sad but true.

So going back to one of the oldest professions out there.  Merc’ work.  The humble art of paying Timmy to go smash Tommy because he took my chicken soup.  This is not a new concept, but like prostitution it has many negative connotations associated with it.  Merc work can be good.  Many people involved in the wars in the middle east are private sector mercenary groups.  Black Water types and such.  They aren't evil per se.  They just fill a void.  Certainly they can choose to accept tainted contracts, and some have for sure.  But it doesn't make the industry evil.  If Black Water and DynCorp were busy defending third world orphanages, or an Islamic Mosque, I doubt anybody would be criticizing them.

Methinks that when people go to the oldest trades out there they are either following their dreams or they have no other perceived options available.  I know there are other options.  But this does follow a skill set I have acquired over time.  The Marine Corps taught me how to shoot, fight, and other such things.  It wasn't Job Corps though.  I wasn't given a flowery list of options and told I could be whatever I wanted to be.  Frankly, my options were fairly limited.  But hey, the GI Bill helps guys like me out right?  Sure it does, sort of.  I simply have to make sure my forms are pristine and that every "i" is dotted, and every "t" is crossed.  I already mentioned the troubles of working with them.  Every time I get off the phone with them I feel like Sparky the dolphin going through flaming hoops.  Lame.

The real meat and potatoes of this post is this.  I have impulse control to a greater degree then most inmates.  I can prove this because I am not knocking over banks and robbing others.  But when someone like me is starting to embrace these ancient professions with more than just a cursory glance- what are others considering doing?  Such a thought is hardly comforting.

Amusing evidence is something you can Google.  Look up what happened with the collapse of Siberia.  A land with resources.  But poor economics let to ruinous results.  There was a point where the number profession in Siberia was prostitution.  Heck, now that I think about it you don't even have to look that hard.  When times are tough people tend drive off without paying for their gasoline.  I am sure everybody has heard a story like that in the news.

I understand why it can be said the crime is directly linked with poverty.  That is an assumption.  It goes back to personal accountability.  You still are responsible for your own actions.  And if poverty causes crime, why do wealthy Americans commit crimes? 

It proves that poverty is not the cause, only a factor. 

Heroics, Head Banging, and Houdini

 

So in light of all the interesting things which have happened lately, we still struggle to get news worth reading.  Much like how the toddler’s epic quandary is this – Eat the blue play-dough or the red crayon.  The truth is that this toddler should be wondering why there are noxious fumes emanating from betwixt his nethers.

Things like this make me both glad, and yet disappointed:

image

Now I don’t have a problem with heroics or the accompanying deeds thereof, in fact I think it’s super.  Heroism is worthy of report in all aspects, look here for some real heroes.  Heroism is more often overlooked.  However, sometimes there is really nothing out there to report so they do a human interest story.  There is nothing wrong with that, but there is plenty of topics that need publicity.  This way, these topics get the attention they appropriately deserve from the general public.  Warm fuzzies are nice, but they should not detract from important matters.

International news websites has bigger topics to tackle.  Something like “Mississippi Heroes” belongs on a state news reel or local paper because it pertains to the local populace.  It takes something big, really big, to get national attention.  For instance, the Wisconsin union busting deal.  That is a huge deal with national and local effects.  Hence it makes sense for it to be on national news.

Moving on we have something of slightly more value:

image

Immigration.  Rule of Law.  Amnesty.  These all have been argued over for decades with no signs of resolution anytime soon.  Left and Right may as well bang their heads on the podium for more volume because neither side listens nor cares what the other has to say.  Now this issue has importance, but it is only a symptom of a more nefarious problem.

Which brings me to Houdini.  Why bring him up?  He was a master of misdirection.  Look over here, now over here, up there, “Hey, where’s my wallet?”.  Houdini is long gone by now but it looks like Obama is studying his tricks.

So lets take a look at immigration for a moment.  We have people entering the country illegally, but why are they coming here?  The same reason most people come here (illegal or otherwise).  Opportunities, freedoms, and rights which are denied to them in their native country, and the list goes on.  I think immigration is a good thing, giving others a better chance at life is something of merit I feel.  However this better chance comes with conditions, you need to get here legally.  Cutting people off in line does nobody any favors, it breaks down respect for rule of law.  Especially when you can’t speak the language of the country you arrive at.

Think about it this way, the life boat that is our country can only hold so many people.  When you have too many people trying to get on the life boat, that boat sinks.  When illegal immigrants don’t patch the holes in the boat they created, we all lose and had better be good swimmers.  Simply put, America can only assimilate so much at a time. 

Illegal immigrants have much in common with pests.  I worked in the pest control business a while ago and I found the common ground they both share.  Water, food, and shelter.  That is what sums it up.  If you take away two of them the problem is largely solved.  I always told my clients that the best tools in the pest control arsenal was a broom and a rag.  Clean the place up so they have no incentive to invade your home.

Currently we provide health care, shelter, food stamps, and many other things.  These are all abused by anchor babies as well as other border jumpers.  We have finite state run resources, currently the illegal immigration oversight provided has failed us in regards to proper allocation of American resources, in a grotesque fashion.  These programs are instituted for only Americans and legal citizens who pay for them.

If we quit giving illegal immigrants these things, than they will go away.  If there is no chance for physical/economic survival the problem solves itself – They will find another home.  We just need to clean a few things up and they will self deport.  It is cheaper than rounding them up on buses and spending cash to play catch and release like a sport fisherman.  If you think this is cruel then peruse this article and check the sources.  Mexico isn’t that kind to illegal immigrants.

Here is what Calderon says for us, and he does some verbal backflips for your entertainment.  Calderon says it isn’t illegal, but they can’t enter without written permission and such.  If it isn’t against that law then why do you need permission?  Curious eh?

 

 

 

 

Some would say that deportation is a little cruel.  Well, sort of.  Tough love is still love.  If they didn’t have the miracle destination of the U.S. they would stay or go someplace else.  I am fine with either. 

But the goal is to have them fix their own place so they want to stay where they were born, here is what Calderon the President of Mexico has to say about it.  Now most won’t say this, but I will.  We as Americans like the blanket term “illegal immigrant”.  Simply because you can’t call us racists because it is intentionally vague.  We all know that we are talking primarily about Mexicans.  I know Mexico is kind of a pile of crap right now with drug cartels largely running the the show.  According to the L.A. Times  at least 28,000 people have ben killed by the drug cartels.  But leaving the problem doesn’t solve it.  These people need to get rid of the bugs and glitches in their government and their streets or just burn it down and start again.  Now if they reboot the machine they better change the software and put in some good anti-virus software, or they will be back to square one in a few years.  Otherwise it is just like a broken record of something dreadful….like the Barney Song on cd.

Letting illegal immigrants (see I am even used to using the term) over solves nothing and hurts us.  I see no benefit to them arriving ill prepared to succeed here.  It does lawful immigrants no favors and we are sick of it too.  Too many burgers I have gotten with unwelcome pickles.  Way too many.  Linguistic errors like this need to be addressed.  Bad intercom hardware I can deal with – I simply yell louder.  However, yelling louder at someone who doesn’t understand what I say is utterly fruitless.

We have covered some ground.  So we have a solution to the illegal immigration problem.  But the monster lurks beneath even this.  News organizations like Fox, MSNBC, and CNN spew their refuse in hopes that somebody will buy it.  Why spill it in the first place?  Misdirection once again.  A salute to Houdini. 

Keep in mind that what is written from here and below is my own opinion with a few facts rubbed in for flavor.  In the mean time, pass the ranch dressing…

Our politicians appear to be doing everything they can to ruin the U.S. and there seems to be no end in sight.  Why?  Three reasons come to my mind.

  1. They genuinely believe that what they are doing is going to help in the future.  They clutch to these beliefs, even if they are dead wrong.
  2. They are just plain stupid.  This is true in some cases, we had a congressmen who thought a naval base would capsize the island of Guam.  Not even kidding – Check it out here.  It’s actually kind of painful to watch.  A prime example of why the public education system should be done away with.  But thankfully profound stupidity of this sort is still rare.
  3. They know what they are doing is harmful and continue to do more because of agenda items.

The first and second reason account for a significant percentage I think.  There is an abundance of what Stalin would call “useful idiots” which is the first reason.  The second reason?  Well, there is not a shortage of morons either.  Think stupid people can’t become powerful?  I need only remind you of the years 2000-2008 and the chimpanzee (Bush) running that circus.

The third reason is the more malevolent of the options.  And the most I am concerned about.  They are hard working for sure, but are they working for us?  If not, then who?  Easy question deserve easy answers. 

Follow the money.

Campaign donations may as well be the indicator to the politician’s agenda and his future actions.  Sadly these massive companies profit, and the others suffer. 

There are a few groups of people everyone should be skeptical of:

  • Lawyers
  • Criminals
  • Politicians
  • Elite Businessmen

Lawyers- They associate with all the above listed and should be treated with all suspicion available.  To confirm this, our Lord and savior Jesus had given warnings concerning lawyers.  Anybody who spends most of his time with corrupt people is going to have something rub off eventually.

Criminals- Well past behavior is a pretty good indication of future behavior.  It isn’t fool proof but serves fairly well.  Enough said.

Politicians- The hideous truth of the matter is that a large number of politicians are lawyers or have been at one point in their careers.  Anybody who has to convince you that he can take care of you better than you can is worthy of the greatest scrutiny.  Most politicians live truly demented lives.  There are anecdotal exceptions, but not commonly.  President Nixon suspiciously resigned form office in reference to the Watergate Scandal.  Mean while  President Clinton is getting serviced by an aide in the white house and is hailed as a great leader for the Left wing.  Brilliant role models…brilliant.

Elite Businessmen- I am a fan of capitalism.  I plan to be wealthy one day.  But when wealth can influence governments it turns into something else.  It turns into power.  Power can be used for good and evil.  When you get to the point where you can pick who gets elected you have begun your descent into a very slippery and dark domain.  The climb up to “Elite” status usually indicates that you have crushed, killed, blackmailed, or smeared enough people to the point where your humanity is nothing more that a footnote in your life. 

The Elite regresses into a biological machine that serves only to create more wealth at any cost.  And your time is usually spent to protect that which you have amassed.  You, the Elite, become a slave to your pride.  The master of the slaves i.e. Jane and Joe public,  is enthralled by his own pride.  The humorous thing is that they don’t even realize it.  Twisted fate eh?

It is easy to create wealth in rather seedy ways.  Don’t believe me?  Look up human trafficking, and drug dealing.  Drug cartel are filthy rich.

So when your politician works for an Elite, you can safely assume that your interests are not his priority.  The politician’s job is the Elite’s agenda of control, and you are his obstacle because you think in ways which differ from the agenda.   Easy way to figure out who he works for is either campaign contributions, or you can simplify it further.  Just ask your self this:

Cui bono?  It means “who benefits”.

Follow the money.

Conspiracy theory?  Perhaps.  The worst enemy lies within yourself – Pride.  It is written in scriptures that pride comes before the fall..  And the creepy thing is that we all suffer from another’s pride eventually.

And the world keeps turning. 

Man’s worst enemy and only natural predator is his own wishful reflection.

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Tripped, fell, and landed on some bullets

Urgent news. Exclusive report. News flash.

Big whoop.

So apparently we whacked Osama Bin Laden(hereafter referred to as the “stooge”). Super. It couldn’t have happened at a better time. It works beautifully for Obama’s campaign kick-off. He never truly left the campaign trail. When things are starting to look bleak for Obama he freckles out with the great news: the Stooge is dead.

Many viewers of TV will take the story presented as it is. Simply because they do that with most things. They don’t fact check, research or question what is put before them. That is one group of people. A smarter group will think, fact check, and arrived at the conclusion that we in fact did kill the guy.  Conspiracy Theorists will think they killed some random person and said it was him- their way of explaining why they won’t release the death photos.  The disenfranchised group simply doesn’t believe it whether or not it is true or false- the government has lied to them too much. They now simply tune it out and soldier on with life.

Which brings us to our last group. The “Thinker” group I more or less fall into. Did we kill him? I’ll buy that idea. But the question is this, when did he really die? Now there is an undisclosed chunk of people that believe he was killed a while ago under Bush’s watch but it wasn’t publicized. Why not publicize it?

When things are good you don’t deliver good news. Here is an article which can provoke some thought on the matter.  Now take this article with a grain of salt, the sources for this article are vague at best, but the author raises a point to where more investigation should be directed.

You wait until things are really working against you. And then you proclaim the accomplishments and milk it for all it’s worth, whether the credit is yours or not. The technology to put a body on ice and prevent it from massive decay isn’t fairly advanced - It’s called a freezer.  Any American could pull off the feat of hiding a body in a deep freezer.

My question is why did they pitch the body overboard so quickly?  Why the sensitivity to his burial detail and funeral rites?  These are the fun details I am curious about.  Because as I review the clumsy history of congress, more gears in my head begin to turn. Nothing of large magnitude happens quickly when the U.S. government is involved. Unless they want it to be. This whole thing smells like a deal that happened outside the men's room on capitol hill.

Why not release the death photos? Apparently we don’t want to make our enemies angry with us. What kind of absurd, throwback, drug induced way of thinking is this? They are trying to kill us anyway, and have been for a while now.  USS Cole ring any bells?  Terrorists rammed a boat filled with explosives into our ship.  So why should we care what they think of us? I am reminded of truck driver heads being cut off with crude instruments just because they were driving a truck in their country. Worry over offending creatures like this should be at the bottom of our list of concerns. But this is what MSNBC reported.

Why pitch the body overboard?  Why the sensitivity to his religious burial rites?  Did all the people he killed get such proper burials?  Hardly so. To me it seemed like disposing of evidence. The Stooge sleeps with the fishes. Oddly reminiscent of the mafia behavior when they don’t want evidence or a witness examined under independent scrutiny. I would love to see some forensic tests on him to determine time of death, particularly to out if his body was dehydrated, or frozen at one point. But a burial at sea conveniently does away with that possibility.

Personally I think that we could have had some national fun and cathartic purging. Do something spiteful to the corpse and kick the ant hill of these fruitcakes.  Terrorists will retaliate in reaction. Let our enemies surface and stomp their guts out when we find them. Let America do what America is good at.  And to top it off bury the Stooge with bacon.

All disrespect for the dead aside, the world is better off with creatures like this not in it. Now I know that this would never happen. But I am sure there would be a market for it. We are a capitalist nation right? It would be opposed by both sides for different reasons.  Liberals because it is insensitive to a particular religion or because of family request.  Conservatives because they claim it is beneath them and that we shouldn’t sink to his level.  Both of which are trying to claim some theoretical moral high ground so they can sling their feces at their opponents like monkeys in a tree.

On a more sober note, the mainstream media such as FOX, MSNBC, CNN, or ABC, and other well trafficked internet sites did nothing to ask hard questions. The best they could come up with is “why didn’t they release the photos?”.  And really, what does releasing photos prove?  Nothing.  It proves that we can release photos. Photoshop can do spectacular things, check this out. Don’t believe me? Look a a billboard with a pretty girl on it, or any magazine with people in it. All Photoshop buddy. Photos mean extremely little.  Give it time, they will be leaked.


Truly, what I think we ought to have done is tie this particular waste of DNA to a missile and shoot him into space, Impractical? Of course. Amusing? Certainly. Bin Laden doesn’t deserve to be on this world, dead or alive. It’s not cost effective to do this for every monster that crosses American cross hairs but it would send a nice message. The message conveyed should come across like this:

If you kill Americans you will die, without remorse, and without respect of any sort in regards to creed, faith, class, or race.

And it all comes to a few other questions. If we really wanted him captured, he would be captured. We have tasers that shoot significant distance and drop even the most resilient drug addicts like a bag of doorknobs. They could have done the raid with shotguns and bean bags if we really wanted him alive. We have most elite military in the world, the best equipped, the best trained troops this world has ever known, and we couldn’t get him alive? Please…a few flash bangs and sleeping gas could accomplish this. One thing the military is great at is following orders. If they are ordered to take him alive, he would be alive. And I am sure he wouldn’t be thrilled about that prospect.  Plus I am sure he would have lots of intelligence data to be extracted.

Yet we are supposed to believe the government’s DNA test. The same government that has lied to us more times that we care to admit it. For something as important as it’s propped up to be it still doesn’t make sense. They think that this is some great victory in the “War on Terror”. Not really. Declaring war on Terrorists is about as effective as declaring war on sandwiches. It is as ridiculous as it is ambiguous. You can fight a nation or an organization, but not a phantoms.

This whole event doesn’t pass the stink test. And the sad thing is that my sense of smell isn’t that acute.

Wag the dog Mr. President, wag the dog.