Okay I need about thirty guys with big guns and bikes...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/mexicocrimeprostitutionchild, I want you to read it and then get very angry. Now I have written dozens of articles in the past about children and young adults being forced into prostitution here in the US. Over the years a lot has been done to halt this horrendous practice. (Not nearly enough, but at least folks are trying.) We actually have some very powerful laws on the books now to help with this tragedy. Now I read this article and I understand that we still have a lot to do.

Now I hear a lot of you saying, "That's not our country. We shouldn't get involved because it is none of our business. Don't we have enough troubles at home with a recession and three foreign wars going on?" The only one of those questions that I deem worthy of a friendly response is the last one. Yes, we do have serious problems going on here at home. Yes we are committed (Apt word that) to three wars that are draining our resources and getting our people killed. I will respond to that part later. Let's handle the first ones first.

"Its not our country." Yep, okay you got me on that one. Mexico and the rest of Central America is not our country. We are global neighbors and somewhat allies with most of the parts of CA, but it isn't part of the US. "We shouldn't get involved because it is none of our business." Reminds me of that wonderful scene from A Christmas Carol where Scrooge compliments Marley for being good at business and Marley moans, "Mankind was my business!" It shouldn't matter where it happens or who it happens to when children are horribly abused. Mexico or Mars, it should always be our business.

People might point out that we have no right forcing our ideas onto other people, other cultures. The problem with that line of thought is this. We aren't talking about a difference in politics or even philosophy. What is happening to these children is wrong, even illegal there. If it weren't wrong by their standards you wouldn't get such amazing quotes as ""Yes, there's people trafficking but not in an alarming manner," Mendez admitted in his office in the border town of Tapachula.
"There is a lot of prostitution, particularly of minors."

A lot of people will tell you that "Wrong is just wrong" for pretty much every single moral, political and even religious argument in the world. I don't necessarily agree with that idea. I believe that many of the ideas/concepts/beliefs that each group considers to be set in stone or absolute are purely cultural and situational. (Hmm, maybe grounds for another blog one day) However, if we are to survive as a race, our first priority must be the protection of our children. What is happening in CA and other parts of the world is wrong and its time someone did something about it.

Unlike a lot of naysayers, I look at the human race and I see so much potential. We have the capacity to grow beyond ourselves and walk amongst the stars (Figuratively and literally) if only we try hard enough. But if we are going to be worthy of this, we have to stand up for ourselves and our fellows. To paraphrase a great TV show's main tag line, "Save the children, Save the world." Any volunteers?

okay we know you risked your lives but...

Sometimes you read about legislation that is stupid. Sometimes you read about legislation that is insulting and sometimes you read about legislation that is both combined. Yahoo News released an article http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout/20110422/us_yblog_thelookout/9-11-first-responders-to-be-checked-on-fbi-terror-list that states that, due to some whizbang wording added to a bill to recompense First Responders who suffer illnesses during their incredibly heroic actions during 9/11 passed, any First Responder who tries to get a part of the allocated funds must pass a background screening to make sure they or members of their family are terrorists.

Now there is already a lot of controversy over this bill because a lot of people felt that the First Responders who dealt with horrific events of 9/11 didn't deserve the extra compensation since they were just doing the jobs they were paid to do. I have opinions about that emotion, but will not go into it here since that isn't exactly the subject of the blog. I will just say this to those people. Thwwpppttt! (That's writerish for a very loud and rude raspberry)

Now I am not saying that some super sneaky member of a terrorist organization couldn't get a job as a fireman, EMT, National Guardsman using false credentials. Perhaps with some evil intent of carrying a bomb into the local Starbucks and ending the evils of Lattes forever. However, unless I completely misinterpret the idea behind terrorists, you don't usually stick around for hours afterward wading through collapsed buildings and breathing in toxic fumes while trying to rescue the Starbucks customers you just tried to blow up.

So using that logic, any First Responder who is now suffering the horrific effects of breathing in smoke, asbestos, chemical fumes etc while they risked their lives to save as many people as they could, then it kind of stands to reason that they aren't terrorists. This moronic and highly insulting rider to the legislation is just a way to keep people who desperately need the money now from getting it and you can bet some gifted soul in our government will do his/her/its damned best to find good men and women ineligible because they read the wrong book in preschool or sold unlicensed lemonade on the street corner when they were 12.

Work with me here on this one, guys. Make a fuss and raise a stink over this insulting piece of trash. The people already have enough to worry about without having to worry about being disallowed because they might be "terrorists." You got a blog? Talk about it. Got a Facebook page? Talk about it. Join the SIOTBAA Society! Make some noise!

Freedom of Speech

Okay before I start what may be one of the most important blogs of my writing career let me give you guys a little quote.

"The First Amendment (Amendment I) to the United States Constitution is part of the Bill of Rights. The amendment prohibits the making of any law "respecting an establishment of religion", impeding the free exercise of religion, infringing on the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering with the right to peaceably assemble or prohibiting the petitioning for a governmental redress of grievances."

In my own not so humble opinion, this is the most important bits of wording ever written because it gives all of us the right to say and believe what we think is right without fear of persecution.

Now onto the subject that prompted this particular blog. One of my best friends and a far better writer than me called last night to fill me in on the details of a truly amazing event. He entrusted me with writing a blog telling the story and letting people know about the dangers of telling the truth. I really don't think that I am better suited for this than him, but here goes.

My friend runs a local newspaper and is one of it's chief reporters. The other day, early in the morning, he received a phone call from local law enforcement that something big was about to happen. When he arrived at the headquarters, an impressive list of whos who of law enforcement were waiting including Secret Service and GBI officials.

Benjamin rode along as these powerful figures went to serve various warrants. The first house they visited, a woman was served with 99! warrants for identity theft. Let me repeat that just in case you missed the first line. NINETY NINE! She was handcuffed and taken away by the officers. My friend took pictures of the incident which is his job.

After finishing the warrant rounds, Benjy called his office and told them to "Stop the presses." He rushed back to his office, wrote the story and published the picture. Hours later, the paper was published and a very short time later, he received a phone call. The caller identified himself as the son of the woman who had been arrested for the 99 counts. He proceeded to tell Ben that he didn't have the right to publish these pictures of his mother. Of course, Ben pointed out that he did (See above note about 1st Amendment rights) The caller than proceeded to say that "He had something for You and the 1st Amendment"

Keep in mind here that being arrested does not make you guilty. Having your picture in the paper being arrested doesn't make you guilty. No matter what a lot of people seem to think, the only time you are proven guilty of a crime is when you are tried by a jury of your peers and found to be so. Even then, the conviction can be overturned and your innocence restored. Ben didn't accuse the woman of anything or imply that she was guilty. He simply reported the fact of her arrest.

(Let me make another aside about general stupidity. Threats against a person are one thing since you can actually physically assault a person. However the 1st Amendment, 2nd, 3rd etc cannot be physically assaulted unless you try to burn the actual document. They are a concept, an idea and a sense of spirit.)

Since I have known Ben for a very long time I can tell you right now threatening him is about as safe as tap dancing in a land mine. He doesn't get scared and he doesn't back down. As a journalist, he firmly believes in telling the truth no matter what. He has been this way for as long as I have known him. Hells in college, he was known as the heaviest armed man in the state.

The reason I mention that is because what happened next is very typical of that. Whereas many people would have hidden in their homes or offices worried that some angry individual was coming after them, Ben drove home, opened up his well stocked gun safe, pulled out a Mossberg 500 shotgun and slung it across his back. He then proceeded to take a ride through town on his motorcycle. (Note he did call the law enforcement people to tell them of the threat and to tell them of his show of force before doing so.)

Now a lot of people would say that Ben was over reacting. They would imply that he was asking for trouble by riding through town with a gun. They might say that Ben should just keep quiet and let the police handle the situation. Ben did exactly that by informing the police of the situation. He didn't find out who the guy was and where he lived (Child's play for him) and go beat the crap out of him. All he did was show that he would not be intimidated by some dipstick who was too cowardly to confront him face to face.

http://www-958.ibm.com/software/data/cognos/manyeyes/datasets/journalists-killed-by-country-since--3/versions/1 is an excellent website that tracks the number of journalists killed while doing their job. It shows why no journalist should ever take lightly a threat against their lives. For the most part (Ignoring Faux News right now) reporters struggle everyday to drag the truth out of the darkness kicking and screaming whether people like it or not and a lot of very powerful people don't like it. Sometimes these brave men and women pay for this effort with their lives.

Our freedoms are never free and standing up for them has never been safe. All of the people who fight to do this (Military, Police, Journalists etc) deserve our undying gratitude for having the courage to brave the "slings and arrows" (Bullets, hand grenades) to protect them. The next time you read a story in your local paper that exposes crime, graft and corruption please take a moment to say thank you for the people that made it possible.

Frack me!

In a recent article The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette talked about what is going on with all the "fracking" being used to pull natural gas out of hard to get places. http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11108/1140094-84-0.stm is just one of dozens of articles I have seen ever since this all started and as usual these articles got me thinking.

Okay I am all for using our own natural resources instead of shipping in oil/gas/guano or whatever from overseas. I am all using new techniques to access these resources. Hells, I am even for deep sea off shore drilling despite the horrors of the Gulf Oil Spill. What I am not for is using questionable and often times extremely hazardous methods and materials in the process.

To backpedal a minute and use the Gulf Spill Disaster as an example. The spill and others like it didn't occur because deep sea drilling is inherently bad. It occurred when a bunch of people decided that expediency and profit was more important than taking the necessary precautions. The Spill occurred because of the gigantic Cluster Flock that the owners/operators/financiers created to make a little more money. If drilling off shore is done properly and with the proper safety measures in place, it is about as safe as drilling on land.

Okay back to the present. For those who are not yet aware, Fracking or Hydraulic Fracking is the process in which vast amounts of liquids is pumped down a pipe and used to crack apart shale and other types of rock to release the natural gas trapped inside of it. This process has opened up thousands of acres of gas deposits that had been inaccessible. Some estimates put the amount of natural gas that could be made available through this process at of 87% of our current production. Sounds awesome doesn't it? BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE!

The first reported problems people started having with fracking (besides the massive amounts of air pollution produced where ever these plants set up) is that natural gas and other contaminants are seeping into their ground water supplies. The Gas Companies deny any correlation between fracking and the problem, but when you turn on your outside tap and then light the water coming out of it with a lighter, that throws red flags up in my book.

But hey, I am feeling magnanimous today so lets give the Frackers the benefit of the doubt on that one. I mean, for all we know, these communities could have always had high octane drinking water. Probably saved millions of buying Red Bulls. So lets move on to the disposal of the Fracking Water. Since this is a brand new process there are no real guidelines for the disposal/cleaning of the water/chemical mix produced. Some companies send their waste liquid to water processing plants that are set up to decontaminate the liquid and make it safe. Others "recycle" their liquids by pumping it back down the holes again. Still others have been caught simply dumping the liquid directly back into the rivers and streams. As of yet, no one in the governments (Local/State or Federal) have made any real attempts to regulate this issue.

Now my final point. As the above article mentions, "Oil and gas companies injected hundreds of millions of gallons of hazardous or carcinogenic chemicals into wells in Pennsylvania and more than 12 other states from 2005 to 2009." These companies are pumping chemicals into the ground that most countries wouldn't even use during a time of war. They are doing this with little or no oversight and keeping very few records of exactly what they are pumping into our water tables. With practically no oversight, they are "self regulating" their actions and are pretty much answerable to no one.

All of the above ranting is because everyone wants easy answers and quick solutions to our problems. "Grab as much as we can and the hell with tomorrow" is pretty much the universal attitude among most companies and politicians. Never mind, things like fracking and strip mining are destroying our ecosystem and will create a very bleak tomorrow if these things aren't reined it. As long as our lights stay on now and our cars keep rolling for the next decade or so, tomorrow can be dealt with soon enough.

Well, I have news for the politicians, CEOS etc. Tomorrow is rapidly becoming TODAY and all of the past due bills created by greed are about to come due. It's time we stopped pushing things off till tomorrow and maybe, just maybe start working on making things right today.

Birther Bust!

Okay, once again, Arizona is proving that you can never have too much questionable legislation. They set the bar pretty damned high when they created their oh so popular and creatively disguised attempt at racism Immigration Laws. Now they have pushed it even higher with what I am going to lovingly call the "Birther Bust" (Birth or Bust, it's a joke!) movement.

Now everyone knows the controversy (if you can actually call it that) over President Obama's birth records. The conspiracy fans are convinced that the man was not born in the USA and is therefore not eligible to be the President. Never mind that there are multiple documents showing otherwise. Never mind there are numerous witnesses (many of them very prominent officials) who were around at the time and have sworn to his status. These oh so dedicated people are determined to prove that he was born in Kenya, Mars or Vulcan.

So now Arizona is pushing a state bill that will require any presidential candidate running in their ballywick to submit absolute proof that he or she was actually born in the US and not on some foreign soil. They haven't worked out the exact details yet, but they will involve more than simply showing your birth certificate. Arizonians are determined that no one else will ever pull the wool of false citizenship over their eyes again. Huray!

Now before I get any further in my rant, let me say something that will probably shock most of you. BACON BITS! Wait no that's not it. In principle, I actually have absolutely nothing against Arizona's Immigration Policies or this new masterpiece they have come up with. I feel that people who are in this country illegally are criminals and should be sent back to whatever nation they came from if discovered. In a perfect world where ignorance and racism wasn't so durned prominent, giving the police the ability to demand proof of citizenship when pulling someone over for "other violations" would be okay. Of course, anyone with any common sense knows we don't live in that perfect world so this idea is simply begging for abuse.

As for the second idea, I have no problem with adding more proof to establishing a presidential candidate's bonifides. (As an aside, I personally feel that the "born in the US rule is a silly one that disqualifies a lot of people who could prolly do a better job than the people we normally get. Citizenship should be more than enough.) Birth certificates, Eye Witness Reports, doctors records and any other thing that you can think of can be thrown in the mix for all I care. My problem isn't with the idea it is with the intent.

Arizona officials claim that this legislature isn't aimed at Obama. They say that the question of his citizenship did not spark this idea. They claim that they simply want to make sure that any potential candidate (Keep in mind Obama is running in 2012 and if this passes will be affected by it.) Well, I say to that MEADOW MUFFINS! In the 200+ years we have been having elections, no movement like this has ever been recorded. It is only since Obama took office and the Birther Bullies have started cranking out their propaganda that an idea like this has taken hold. Arizona is aiming at Obama, but doesn't have the stones to come out and admit it.

I am a firm believer in States' Rights and feel that each state has the right to stand firm in whatever resolve they believe in. Arizona did with the Immigration Hoohah. With all the powers that be pointing fingers and wagging them, Arizona has stood firm (Mostly) and hasn't backed down (much). I personally think this new flimflam is the dumbest, most blatant stunt yet, but what do I know. (well a heck of a lot actually, but...) Come Arizona, just walk over to your window and yell, "We don't like Obama and we aren't going to take it anymore!"

and you thought professional wrestling was fake!

Okay I will admit that I am not the brightest bulb in the box and nowhere near as perceptive as some of my friends and colleagues (Yes Ben I am talking about you), but this latest budget frenzy has got even dim old me going what the hell? The Reboobicans have just released their budget idea for America and I gotta tell you that it is a doozy. Of course, I also have to tell you that the (R)s brave new plan looks almost exactly like the (D)s old plan from before.

Worded differently and kotched in slightly different terminology, but its basically the same old same old. Hells, the biggest part of their plan to reduce our deficit is to make drastic changes to medicare and social security. These changes, including vouchers, is exactly the same thing the (D)s proposed a while back and prompted the (R)s and (TB)s (Teabaggers or Tuberculosis take your pick) to start screaming about Death Panels for Seniors and the Deaths of Grandpa and Grandma by the hands of the (D)s.

No believe it or not, this is not why I am crying fowl (duck, goose, chicken) and rubbing my balding pate. I really think that there is nothing wrong with changing your mind and if the (R)s really believed that these ideas would work, more power to them. No, my friends, what has got me all confuzzled is that the moment the (R)s came out with their brand new (?) plan, the Damnocrats immediately started attacking the plan using the exact same rhetoric that the Reboobicans used against them right down to the Death Panels and "Basing our prosperity on the backs of our elderly."

I mean come on folks, this is the worst case of Deju Vu I have ever experienced. (Or have I already experienced it? Hmm) Or is this opposites week or something? Have (R) suddenly become (D) and vice versa. Did their aides get all the cue cards mixed up? Are evil alien carrots mind controlling everyone? (Bet no one can tell me what TV series that is from and it ain't Futurama FYI)

Any police officer will tell you that it is damned suspicious when a bunch of people say exactly the same thing. When everyone has the exact same story, it is a sure sign of lying. Now, once again (Keep in mind the same damned thing happened when (R) lambasted the (D)s plan when most of the (D)s plan came from proposals made by the (R)s specifically people like John McCain) the parties have switched songs, but the lyrics remain the same just being sung by different leads.

The circus that is going on right now in Washington is one of the best examples of the old saying about the "play remaining the same." It is time we stopped listening to badly written reruns and came up with some brand new programming.

6 year old terrorist? or If this had been my daughter...

Okay everyone imagine this nightmare scene, you are walking along when some complete stranger comes up and starts running his/her hands all over your six year old daughter/sister/niece touching her in highly inappropriate places without even giving you the flimsiest reasons why. What would you do? I know what I would do and it definitely involves putting my fists in very inappropriate places on the attacker. At the very least, people should be screaming in outrage and yelling for the cops. Except what do you do when the person molesting your little girl is the cops?

http://news.yahoo.com/video/politics-15749652/tsa-frisks-6-year-old-parents-speak-out-24890589 covers this horrible situation. A little girl is pulled away from her parents in an airport and is frisked by a TSA officer. The frisk involves touching her on her chest and bottom and peeking down the front of her pants. (I shit you not, watch the video. All this time the parents are asking why this is happening and the little girl is doing her best to be polite even though it is obvious that she is terrified.

All I can say to this travesty is WTF? Okay I am all for safety and security while flying. I have nothing against the various scanners and such that travelers have to endure. I do have some problems with the officers grabbing adults searching for contraband/bombs etc. Yes it is embarrassing and annoying, but at least adults have some concept of what is happening and can move past it. Little kids are taught from birth that letting anyone touch them in improper places is bad and that they should tell adults when it happens. Well, here it is happening while adults watch and no one is doing anything to protect her.

Needless to say that the little girl was terrified and wondered what she did wrong to be punished that way. Needless to say her parents are angry at the event. This little girl will probably have nightmares because of this and be very confused for some time to come and yet nothing is being done about it.

It seems like every month, people are being asked to give up more and more freedoms and dignity in the name of safety and security. Many times I have asked, "Where do we draw the line?" Well, now I am saying that this is where we draw the line. When our children are molested by the very same people that are supposed to be protecting them, it is time to draw the line and start pushing back. It is time we stopped saying, "well that is the way it has to be" and start saying, "OH HELL NO!"

Our children are our greatest treasures and the only real hope the future has. Let's start treating them that way.

Big Brother says NO to brown bag lunches

Okay, I am one of those born again health enthusiasts who has managed to lose 136 pounds and go from high cholesterol to perfect cholesterol. I am firmly aware that over a third of our kids are overweight, obese or even morbidly obese. I am 100% behind healthier lunches in school and banning sugary based vending machines from schools, but I think at least one school might be going way to far.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout/20110411/us_yblog_thelookout/chicago-school-bans-homemade-lunches-the-latest-in-national-food-fight tells us that one school has outright banned home made lunches from being brought to and eaten in school. Instead, kids must purchase the school lunches even if their parents can't afford it. "The students can either eat the cafeteria food--or go hungry." is a direct quote from the school.

Now as pointed out in the article, the vast majority of the kids in the school's district live at or below the poverty line. This means that most of their parents can't afford the $2.25 meals and a large number of them probably can't even afford the reduced cost meals that some might qualify for. So what is the school saying, "Hey Sucks to be poor, but those are the breaks?"

I know from many years of personal experience that it is much cheaper to fix lunches at home than eat out. For the $10.00+ they are talking about a week, I could easily fix sandwiches for a month. Parents will be forced to either let their kids go hungry at lunch and try to make up for it at home or try to scrounge together enough money for them to eat at school and maybe short everyone at home. Not very good choices.

Of course the real knee slapper here is that up until a short time ago, school lunches were probably as much to blame for unhealthy kids as everything else. They were filled with greasy, sugar filled foods that were prepared as cheaply as possible. Hells, some schools still use Lard as a cooking ingredient instead of healthier oils.

Suddenly some of these institutions have "seen the light" and are trying to do better and this is good, but unlike many converts they are leaning way to far to the other side. The schools need to realize that in this imperfect world that their ideal solutions are not going to be one size fits all. Poorer people do the best they can and that is all they can do.

Should ever kid in America have access to healthy meals that provide them with just the right amount of protein, veggies and other good things. Hells yes, but unless those meals are going to be free of charge there is always going to be a large (Getting larger) section of the country that can't afford that.

"The students can either eat the cafeteria food--or go hungry." should never be an option for anyone who gives a damn about kids.

Soldiers deserve more

Okay last rant for the day, I promise. I have pretty much said everything that I need to say and prolly a few that I didn't but I decided to hit the dying topic one more time cause I am really miffed at one aspect of a potential shut down.

Forgetting for a second all of the government employees who will suffer during this time, forgetting all of the businesses that will suffer during this time and forgetting all of the other BS that is going on one thing does not need to be forgotten. During this shutdown, no matter how long it lasts (One day, three days, a week, a month) our armed forces will receive no pay. What kind of bull hockey is that?

Sure, when the government does restart they will get back pay but during the shutdown, they will be out there risking their lives and not getting paid for it. Their families will not be supported, hells survivor benefits won't be paid. Is this the way we say thank you to the people who serve in our Armed Forces? Is this the way we say, "We respect you and support you?"

The President still gets paid, Congress still gets paid and the Senate still gets paid. All the lazy and contentious assholes that are causing this problem in the first place will not go without their salaries, but the people who risk their lives everyday in support of our country must do without. That is the absolutely saddest, most pathetic thing I have ever imagined.

Now some people will point out that a shut down, if it happens, will probably not run long enough to truly effect (affect never could keep those two straight) the Military and they are probably right. The point they seem to be missing is that if these idiots in Washington don't get their act together and do their jobs then it could last long enough. Hells how long have they been fighting over this crap? Weeks of argument and inability on both sides to bend even a little does not bode well for a quick resolution if a shut down occurs.

So like I said, its bad enough that a shut down will put HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS out of work with no clear picture when they can go back. Its bad enough that Reboobicans are suggesting that these out of work people will not receive back pay when they return even though they will be unable to collect unemployment unless the shut down lasts way to long. On top of all that idiocy, we have to tell our Soldiers that "Hey sorry, no money for you but we still need you to go risk your lives." If that doesn't piss you off then nothing will.

Compromising means everyone loses

One of my best friends, brother in every way but blood and colleague actually had some objections to the last Blog. (Imagine that?) Since he is one of the few people I consider to be an intellectual and professional equal (actually when it comes to serious, factual writing, I consider him head and shoulders above me since he actually does this sort of thing for a living and I piddle with it at best. My style of writing is more along the lines of "Hmm wonder what the elves are doing today?)

He took umbrage (Wait can you take umbrage and not be British? Questions questions) at the idea of the different parties compromising instead of one side or the other pushing their idea through. He quoted one of my favorite songs when he said, "You've got to stand for something or you'll fall for anything" and believe it or not, I agree him completely. Almost all of the problems facing the world (Not just the US) are because people compromised. They gave up their voices and let other people make the decisions for them. We all need to stop giving in and fighting for what we believe in.

Now, that said, unless you are talking about an armed rebellion against the US (Which I am not, I am severely allergic to bullets. I break out in blood every time one hits me.) or changing our style of government (Which I am not against if someone has a better idea. Any suggestions sent my way will be gleefully exposed in the next blog.) compromise is the only way we are ever going to get things done.

Here's the problem we have right now. (D) says they are right and (R) says that they are right and (B) just wants to save the world right now. (For the record (B) stands for the Tea Party members whom I have nothing against even if they call themselves Tea Baggers) Each set has their own view of how that should be done and steadfastly refuses to even admit that the other side might have some good ideas. The only problem with this attitude is that neither side is 100% right and neither side is 100% wrong. Both sides have some very good points although I do have to admit that (R) seems to have more good points right now than (D). However this doesn't mean that (D)s ideas should be completely ignored.

There is no reason why the government should shut down tonight. In my humble (yeah right) opinion, if it does close and put hundreds of thousands of people out of work, it is because both sides are simply grand standing. Fingers point on both sides to accuse the other of causing it, but it takes two sides to make an argument and two sides to reach an agreement. Lets push past this and use the remaining 6 months to resolve the other disputes.

What it boils down to is this, Congress, the Senate and the President can pull this crap because they won't be hurt by the shut down. You can bet that the Respected Senators and Honored Congressmen (People?) won't feel the sting and wonder how they will pay their bills. Oh yes, the brave men and women who defend our country and the men and women who work to keep it running might suffer, but politics will rage on and on. Come on, peoples. Can't we all just get along.

Shut Down Will Save Us Money (Got a bridge in Brooklyn I will see you too)

Okay so its beginning to look like we may have the government shut down after all since the idiots DC can't decide what to do. Damnocrats don't want to make any more cuts and Reboobicans don't want funding for EPA and Planned Parenthood so we have an impasse. Admittedly we still have a little over 12 hours to go so there might be a miracle, but I am not holding my breath.

So everyone is thinking about how we can shut it all down and save us a big chunk of change. I mean if everything is shut down than we aren't spending any money right? Well, unfortunately it doesn't work that way. A really excellent article, http://finance.yahoo.com/news/The-price-of-a-government-cnnm-3294374261.html covers all of the financial reasons why a government shut down actually costs us money.

So if the shut down won't save any money for the US and will make everyone affected by it work three times as hard when they come back why can't we simply agree to disagree in the short run and pass a budget. If having another unneeded shutdown will cause us all to suffer and damage our Cool Points level with the rest of the world then why are we doing it? I can sum up the reasons in one word. (also name that tune in one note but that's not important.) That word is Ego.

We have always been a nation of compromise. Our founding fathers realized very early on that there was no way such a diverse and strong willed people would be able to agree 100% on anything so they set up our government so that compromise would always be the rule of the day with, usually, majority rule determining our paths. Somewhere along the line, we have lost that message. Instead of compromise and majority rule, our government is rapidly turning into "My way or the highway" style of government.

Once again I am not singling out one side or the other. I'm not picking on Elephants or Donkeys and I am certainly not picking on Baggers. Every single group is at fault here because no one wants to compromise. No one wants to give any more than they have to. Sure, all sides have made concessions in the current budget fight, but no one really has given up much of anything. Damnocrats want things their way and Reboobicans want things their way and the Baggers...Well they really need a new party name lets just leave it at that.

For the record, lets look at the current sticking points. (D) don't want to cut any more spending from the budget because they argue such cuts would further damage our fragile economy. (R) want funding for Planned Parenthood and new powers given to the EPA stricken from the budget plus even more spending cuts. Now I am no economist (Can't even balance my own check book) so lets skip the first and last bits here and focus on the middle two.

(R) argue that PP is one of the biggest boosters of Abortion in the world and that Federal dollars should not go towards that. I actually agree with this. I do not believe in Abortion except in cases where the mother's life is threatened or in cases of incest. However, as much as I am against it, this should not be a sticking point that shuts down the government. Work it out later guys when you have six months of free time in between flying on the taxpayers money or tweeting from your seats.

(R) also are against granting the EPA the funding and powers it needs to regulate the horrendous amounts of greenhouse gas and other pollutants that get pumped into the air every day. I am about as Green as you can get and still live in a city and I agree that the gases need to be more strongly regulated and that the EPA should have the power to regulate and fine. Again, I do not feel that this is something that should be used to shut down the government. Work it out later.

Despite the fact that the above two paragraphs focus on Reboobicans, I am not choosing sides here. Like I said in the beginning, if there is a shut down than it is both sides fault. Since my wife works for the government and my brother proudly serves in the Military (Over 40 years now!) my life is directly affected by the shut down and so are the lives of dozens of my closest friends.

We cannot afford to let hubris get the best of common sense. The government needs to get off their collective buttocks and move forward. If they don't then they all need to be given the boot. We here at the SIOTBAA Society (Who wants a tee-shirt?) are asking the government to do the right thing and if they don't we are asking the people of the US to protest. Write letters (Mail will still be delivered), take out ads or hells hire a skywriter, but let these idiots know how you feel. What have you got to lose? Let your voices be heard and maybe it will shake them up a little.

God speed all!

The reverse side of the coin

One of the hardest things about being a member of the SIOTBAA Society (Remember folks, I'm not just a member, I am the Founder and President for life) is that you have to stop and admit that there are two sides to a coin. I constantly gripe and whinge here about people/places and things that I feel should be commented on, but to be fair (and I like to think I am) I feel the need to comment when people act in a civilized and courteous manner. Whelp, today is one of them days.

My wife asked me to mail a fairly important document when I went out on my daily run. (Won't say what it was but given what time of the year it is, you can imagine.) Now the Post Office is about a mile from our house and is a fairly easy run for me plus I had to go the grocery store which is on the same street further down so I said "sure" This morning, I donned my jogging gear picked up my wallet and keys, stuck the envelope in my pocket and took off. When I got to the door of the PO, I found that the envelope had worked its way out of my pocket and had vanished.

Needless to say, I freaked out a little. It was kind of windy and the envelope didn't weigh much so I had visions of it flying all around the city. Still, I turned on my heels and started running back the way I had came in the vain hope that I would find it. I hadn't gotten more than 100 feet or so when this battered old car pulled up beside me and honked its horn. The car's owner smiled at me and waved the lost envelope.

She told me that she had seen the envelope fall out of my pocket back where I had turned onto the main street and had gotten out of the car, picked it up and followed me as quickly as she could in afternoon traffic to give it back to me. I was profuse in my thanks, but the lovely lady simply waved off my thanks and wished me a "Blessed Day" and drove off. I don't even know her name.

Now, most folks would have ignored the dropped envelope. More than a few would have picked it up, ripped it open to see if there was anything worth while inside. A smaller percentage might have either mailed it back to me or dropped it in the box themselves. The fact that this woman took the time to rescue a fairly important document than chase me down through heavy traffic to return it to me is amazing. If there were more people like her maybe the SIOTBAA Society might not need to exist. I am grateful for what she did and will try to pay that kindness ahead.

Whelp there you have it. You usually get the Ass side of the coin, but today you get the backside. Hope you enjoy it.

Government Blame Game

Okay I will be the first to admit that this is not a new game. As long as more than one person has lived alongside of someone else there has always been "His fault/No it's His fault" arguments going on. Governments just take it to a much grander scale. One side blames the other of being "intractable" or "unwilling to compromise" will doing the same damned thing. To borrow the words of my brother, Damnocraps and Reboobicans are showing us the perfect example of the Blame Game right now. In fact his most excellent blog also covers that. http://porkbrainsandmilkgravy.blogspot.com/2011/04/shut-it-down.html
(Let me insert an Author's note here that whereas my wife does work for the government and a shut down would put some financial pressure on us, my wife and both support Benjy's attitude of "Shut it down." Hells, if it stays shut down long enough maybe people will learn something about compromise. Doubt it, but hey I still believe in Santa and the Easter Bunny.)

Both sides are dancing around compromise demanding that the other side give a little or everything shuts down. Of course, each side is also saying that it will be the other side's fault if there is a shut down. (R) claims that (D) are unwilling to make the necessary sacrifices to move the talks forward and (D) claims that (R) are catering to the Tea Party "Extremists." (Actual quote there folks) I say, "Horse hockey" to both sides.

I am all for cuts to the budget. Hells, I am for more cuts in places where most people deem sacred. I want our deficit down and for someone to steer us away from the same fate as Ireland and Greece. Anyone that doesn't see that we are heading to the exact same end as these countries is either blind, not so bright or both. For way to long we have been spending money we don't have. We elected the most popular people because they promised us that we could have it all and not have to pay for it. Now we are paying the price and it's not going to get better until we start cutting out expenses.

Now, that said, I understand that this is not going to happen overnight. There is no way in hell (despite what Tea Party members and a huge section of the US seem to think) that we can move back to a happily balanced budget in a few years. It took us decades of wasteful spending to get to where we are with admirable efforts by both (R) and (D) members to bankrupt us. It will probably take just as long to fix things. So for the time being, we have to compromise a little. Any budget we create has to be a mixture of "Okay where are we going" and "What do we do right now." Neither side is going to have it all, I'm sorry but that's the way it is.

So, (R)&(D) peeples, quit blaming each other for the problems, stop pushing us towards the brink and compromise a little. It makes you look good, keeps things rosy for your re-elections and moves us forward. Isn't that good enough for now?
(Note: Okay Benjy, I added a link to your blog again. Hows about doing the same for me?)

Edumacation for Dummies

Well, once again while out riding my bike, I just witnessed decisive proof that our education process is severely lacking in its approach to one particular group of individuals. These poor folk suffer daily because they had not received the special training that they need to overcome the severe disability of having somewhat less than a full deck of mental cards.

You know the poor souls I am talking about. We see them all the time. We see them in the grocery store standing in the 15 items or less lane with two buggies full of stuff. We see them on the interstate when, after its been announced for 20 miles that the left lane is closed ahead, they are waiting right where the lane ends for someone to let them over. Hell we ever see these poor schmucks sitting on railroad tracks at intersections waiting for the lights to change.

Now before I received enlightenment over the suffering of these poor souls, I was much like everyone else and grew angry with them for their inability to read signs or comprehend simple ideas like "Choo Choo Train smash little car." Now I simply accept that these mentally challenged morons need help and guidance and pray to the good Lord for the day to come where someone "Cough" (2x4) "Cough" helps them see the error of their ways. Pray with me for that one Brothers and Sisters.

Now the wise among you (You too Benjy) are probably wondering what started today's sermon. Well (Since that is kind of the whole purpose of this blog) I will tell you. I was out riding my bike to work off some calories and drop my blood sugar down some and was making my last loop through the neighborhood. I had just pulled onto Oliver and was approaching Windsor (Yah I know this doesn't mean anything to most of you, but the Devil is in the details.) Now Oliver/Windsor is a one way stop with the stop sign being on Windsor. Which means that all traffic on Windsor must stop until traffic on Oliver is clear. (For the record Bikes do count as traffic despite what a lot of nuts on the road seem to think)

I was still maybe two blocks away when three cars pulled up. The first two made rolling stops which bugs me but not to much. The third car, little white model being driven by a little old white woman, rolls up to the stop sign just as I get to the intersection. Instead of stopping to let me pass, the lady rolls right out into the street then slightly across since she is trying to turn left into the right hand lane.

To keep from slamming into her after she runs the stop sign, I have to slam onto my hand brakes so hard I almost do a forward wheelie. I am still moving so fast that I actually have to push off her front bumper with my foot to keep from going over her hood. I managed to get around her and roll to a stop a few yards away.

Now keep in mind that this woman was in the wrong and I could have been seriously hurt despite my safety gear. Still, I was pretty much willing to ignore it, file it away with hundreds of stupid people stories when she pulls up alongside of me and rolls down her window. She gives me this fierce, sour look and says, "You'd better not have dented my bumper or hood or you'll have to pay for it." She then drove off way to fast for the neighborhood and I finished my riding.

So you see, this poor unfortunate soul not only suffers from extreme stupidity in her inability to read simple signs and comprehend their meanings, but she also suffers from the terrible affliction of complete lack of common sense. Instead of being grateful that her actions didn't cause me serious harm which would have reflected badly on her, she gripes at me about maybe scuffing her paint job. A truly tragic soul indeed.

So please, take pity on these poor people and try to educate them on the error of their ways "Cough" (Pepper Spray) "Cough" Sorry about that, maybe I am coming down with a cold. Always remember that the next life you save may be your own.