Whoa oh woa, Stuck on you...

As I mentioned in the previous blog, the Homeowners Association for our neighborhood have been patching and refinishing our parking area and today was my section's turn. The process lasts from 7am-7am and the areas are ribboned off to keep people from driving on the surface till it has a chance to dry and cure. We all received notices in the mail and through fliers attached to our door. Bright yellow signs were put up as well warning that the area would be closed and that anyone caught driving or parking in the effected area would be towed at the Owner's expense. Oh did I mention the bright yellow tape blocking off the entries into the area? Oh good, I did.

So with all of this shift going down and with plenty of notice and warning am I seeing people driving and parking in the effected area? Well it turns out that some idiot decided that he didn't feel like parking somewhere else and snapped the tape on one end off so he could drive through. Now keep in mind, the do not cross tape is still attached to one pole and is clearly readable. However driver after driver has chosen to ignore this brightly colored warning and pulled through and parked. (Last count was about 20 cars.) Then just ten minutes ago, I saw another person come out of her house and take the tape blocking the other side off and roll it up so that her husband could park.

This only bothers me because I know what is going to happen if the cars are actually towed (And I hope they are). People are going to whine, gripe and complain. They are going to say something along the lines of “We didn't know” or “No one told us.” They are going to rage and blame everyone but themselves.

To me, this is a prime example of what the fugg is wrong with this country and really with the world as a whole. As a society, we have rules and laws that are supposed to protect us and help us function without killing each other. (Not saying they do a great job, but that is the idea.) People tend to support and accept these rules except when it inconveniences them. But if some rule even remotely interferes with their lives, well it gets tossed to the wayside. If they get in trouble because they ignored that rule and got caught then it was someone else at fault.

Now I can take some sadistic pleasure in knowing that the people who have ignored the barriers will have a layer of black sticky gunk stuck to the underside of their car that I am pretty sure a flamethrower won't get off. I can enjoy the idea that their shoes are probably ruined from said gunk. And if their cars get towed, especially if it is when I can see it, I will laugh merrily to myself as Miss Karma works her magic.

These people have damaged their cars and damaged their clothes all because they didn't want to walk a couple of hundred yards. I'd say I feel sorry for them, but all of you know how much I hate lying.

End of Rant

Karma is a bitch, but funny as heck!

I'm sorry were you doing something?

Have you ever had an almost instantaneous example of how Karma can be a real BITCH? You know the scene? You see someone who is doing something that is wrong or cruel and BAMM Karma reaches out her hand and just smacks the person down really good? Well, I got a great example of that today and it was funny.

So I am sitting at the PC working and I happen to look out the front window just as a medium sized cat comes strolling along the top of the neighbor's fence. He is happily ambling along without a care in the world. A second or so later this kid with one of those Nerf Footballs comes walking along the side of the fence. He keeps looking at the cat. At first I thought it was maybe his cat and they are out together. I was quickly proven wrong.

The kid starts tossing his football at the cat trying to hit it and knock it down. Kid is no Joe Montana (Young people look it up) and his football keeps sailing to low and bouncing off the fence. With every toss, the cat is completely ignoring the kid and the kid keeps getting madder and madder. Finally, just as the cat is making the corner turn on the fence row, the kid manages to get the ball high enough, but it misses the cat and sails over the fence into another person's yard. The kid starts stomping and yelling because not only did he miss his target, his ball is now gone. To add insult to injury, the cat's only real reaction is to stare curiously over the fence at the ball on the other side.

So, completely ignoring the first warning from Karma about being cruel, the kid runs down to the pavement and grabs a rock. He then runs back up the hill with the clear intent of hitting the cat with a baseball sized rock. Now at this point I am out of my chair and heading to the door to yell at the kid, but I needn't have bothered because Lady Karma had the kitten's back.

Kid reaches the top of the small hill and flings the rock with all of his might. Not only does the rock not go anywhere near the cat, but the kid looses his balance and tumbles back down the hill to land on the pavement. As a side note here, I should inform you that the pavement in our parking area has just been resurfaced so it is still wet, black and sticky. The kid gets up covered in black smear, screams at the cat and runs off home. Once again, the entire time, the cat was completely unconcerned.

Like I said, sometimes bad people get away with bad things. But sometimes, just sometimes, Karma gives them an almost instant lesson in how to play nice. I am very appreciative that I had a front row seat to one of those times.

End of Rant

I'd appreciate a little intelligence. Prolly won't get it, but I'd appreciate it.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/satire/muslimmonth.asp

So let us file this one away under the headings of “Some people don't get humor” and “People have no concept of exactly how our Country functions. Basic scenario for those who don't want to read the linked article. Website well known for its humor and satire posts an “article” that announced President Obama is going to make November “Muslim Appreciation Month.” Well dump the sense of humor and break out the high hats folks because people got all bent out of shape over it.

You know the kind of folks I am talking about right? The same folks who got upset because an American Born Boy of Hispanic Origins sang the National Anthem. The very same people who cried foul when a wonderful young lady of Indian Origins who was also born in the US was crowned Miss America. The people who believe that if it ain't blond haired, blue eyed and paler than a fish's belly then it isn't AMERICAN! You know, the morons.

Before I rant any further, let me state a few facts just for any of those said morons who might be sounding out these words right now. Fact the first is that even if he so wished the President could not declare any month an appreciation month for any Religion be it Islam, Christianity or Pastafarism. It violates the basic concept of church and state. Despite what some people believe America does not have a National Religion. Christianity is not nor has it ever been the Official Religion of the USA. So without some serious Constitutional Rearranging, no religion could ever have a Month of Love. Sorry it just can't.

Secondly, let us just say that the aforementioned Constitutional Rearranging occurred. Say our governing bodies lost their collective minds and said, “Hey let's show the religions a little love and tenderness.” All well and good. Hooray for Religion. That still would not preclude a Muslim Appreciation Month because we still have that pesky little thing called Freedom Of Religion running around and contrary to apparently popular opinion, that does not translate into Freedom to Worship Christianity.

I know a lot of people out there seem to think it sucks, but every religion has the right to celebrate and show their faith. If followers of Islam want to stage a Million Muslim March they have the right. (As a somewhat amusing note though, the actual attendance of the MMM was less than 10.) If followers want to put up religious scenes they can. Islam is just as much a “legitimate” religion here in the US as Christianity or any other faith.

Always remember a simple fact. Be careful who and what you condemn no matter how much you dislike or disagree with them. Oppression is a slippery slope and one day you might just find yourself the one who is “wrong.”

Course, in closing, let me say that the bigotry running rampant because of this isn't really what is bothering me. Sadly, I have come to expect nothing less from this country. No what bothers me is that people are either to stupid or unwilling to bother to confirm if a story is true or not before they get their panties in a twist. Come on, People. Prove that you aren't complete idiot and do a little research. It may take a few minutes, but you'll look a lot...okay maybe a little less stupid.

End of Rant

Gotta love the South.

http://gma.yahoo.com/judge-ordered-sikh-remove-rag-head-says-aclu-112736180--abc-news-topstories.html

Hokay, before we actually start this rant, here is a little bit of information about exactly what a Sikh is. This is only a brief overview of the faith and its tenets, but it gives you some idea about what it all means.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sikh

Put quite simply, a Sikh is not a Muslim and there is no, I repeat no, historical evidence that a Sikh has ever committed a Terrorist attack. The Sikh faith shares remarkably similar tenets with Christianity and is very much a religion of peace. Got it? Okay moving on.

So, some of the aspects of this story I can kind of understand from both sides. To cover the basics, a Long Haul Trucker is pulled over. While he is stopped, he is asked to relinquish a weapon. He refuses and is arrested for refusal to obey an order. Up to this point, I actually think everything is Hunky Dorry. I mean sure the blade was only three inches long AND sewn into his clothing which would probably made for difficult quick draw, but hey a weapon is a weapon. The officers requested, he refused for religious reasons and an arrest was made. Religious Faith does not exclude you from obeying the laws of the land no matter how much some would like to believe otherwise.

No, what happened afterward is what truly honks me off. The arresting officers (Obviously with no clue about different religions.) “One officer declared that all Sikhs are depraved and 'terrorists,'” (See above definition and explanation.) Later, when he appeared in court, a Judge allegedly called Singh's turban "that rag" and insisted he remove it or his case would be called last on the docket after everyone else in the courtroom had left.

Now once again, I can kind of understand the “removing turban” part of this. Generally, hats are ordered removed when in a court room. Not sure if it is out of respect or fear that someone is going to sneak an AK-47 into the court under their hats. My understanding of the Sikh faith is fairly limited so I am not sure if a Man is forbidden by its tenets to remove his turban under certain circumstances, but I can understand the Judge's request from a Western Cultural position. However, calling his turban which is a symbol of his baptism a “rag” was beyond the pale of rudeness.

People these days seem to have a hard time grasping that America is and always has been a vast collection of beliefs, customs and styles. I laugh when I hear people talking about what it means to be an American while mocking what they see as different. I hate to break it to them but this concept of “The American Way” that most seem to have as a White Anglo Saxon Christian Way is an illusion. Almost since the day the white man set foot on these shores, we have borrowed bits and pieces from every culture on the planet and wove it into the fabric of our nation.

People like the nose breathers in the article need to grasp a very simple fact. America was built on a very basic principle. People came here to be free to live the way they wanted, to believe they way they wanted. Our most basic tenets are Freedom of Speech and Freedom of Religion. These do not mean “Freedom to say what I want, but people who don't agree with me need to shut up” or “Freedom to practice my religion, but everyone else can't.”

America needs to take a very loud wake up call and understand that your way isn't the only way and everyone else has the same rights as you do. Always remember a simple fact. Be very very wary of obstructing the faith and rights of people that you don't agree with because the day can come sooner then later when it might very well be your faith and your rights that someone else disagrees with. To quote a line from the Great Bird of the Galaxy, “"The spear in the enemy's side is the spear in your own." and "We have differences. May we, together, become greater than the sum of both of us."

End of Rant

Read it, I dare ya!

http://porkbrainsandmilkgravy.blogspot.com/2013/09/reality-will-not-change-to-agree-with.html

Hey Kids, What time is it?

Riddle me this, Batman

For the past two days, the six news feeds that I read every morning (Including the foreign ones) have been filled with story after story about Reboobicans/Obamacare and Government Shutdowns. I am actually mildly annoyed by it since I am very certain that other news events happened in the past 48 hours, but you couldn't tell it by the Left/Right Whinge propaganda going on all over the Interwebz. Senator Cruz is even launching a Filibuster over the subject. Sadly since the Reboobicans have tried to defund just short of an infinite number of times without even the hint of success , no one is really surprised by this.

However, it has got me thinking and as everyone knows that is more dangerous than coming between a Momma Bear and her cub. Keep in mind this is neither an argument for or against the Affordable Care Act, just the musings of a slightly deranged, but often comical psyche. Why are Reboobicans/Tea Beggars so hot to defund, destroy and debunk the ACA. Why have they been waging an almost unceasing war (and losing war) over it since its inception?

Now some will argue that they are doing it because of an overwhelming concern for the economy and the welfare of the American People. (Somehow using the word Welfare and Republicans in the same context seems wrong. Not sure why.) These same people might also argue that the Moon is made of Green Cheese and we never actually went there to check, but that is beside the point. Others might argue that a lot of them are doing it just because the Damnocrats want it and what the Damnocrats want has to be bad. Even others might argue that it is because Evil Alien Blue Gnomes are inside their heads hitting their brains with hammers. Any of these hypotheses might be true. (Well okay, maybe not the last one. The Alien Gnomes are actually Green. Every one knows that.) Like everyone else and brother I do mean EVERYONE, I have my own idea.

I think the Reboobicans are fighting tooth and nail against this whole thing because they are scared. Not of hurting the American People or the Economy, but because they are afraid of what happens if the ACA actually Works. Not saying it will, but just because something might not happen doesn't mean people don't panic over it or there wouldn't Meteorite Insurance. (I Shift you not, look it up.) Yep my idea is that all of the Reboobicans/Cantservatives on Capitol Hill are scared out of their gourds because they are terrified that it might actually work.

Think about the context of all this for a moment or three. Reboobicans and Cantservatives have been railing against Obamacare since Day One (Well maybe day 20, most of them were on vacation the first few weeks.) Every single one of them has built their campaigns off of the fact that the ACA will bring American into a Socialistic Age where Dinosaurs roam the streets and we live in fear of Death Panels marching to take our Grandparents away. They have raged on and on long before any of the segments of the ACA ever went into effect. In short, right or wrong they have made complete and utter pompous Asses of themselves.

While they were doing all of this, they lived in the quiet comfort that actual implementation of it all was “way out there” in the future. They could preach their sermons without fear of any actual solid facts or data to contradict them. Now, as the deadline approaches, that wonderful little buffer zone is rapidly shrinking and reality (Whatever that turns out to be) is creeping up on them. So now they are being faced with a scary thought. “What if it works?”

Like I said I am not making commentary on the ACA's pros and cons. I am not making a statement on whether it is a good thing or bad thing. I simply don't have the math and any actual facts have been cleverly camouflaged by all the Rhetoric and Propaganda being put out by both sides. I am just pondering the ever increasing terror besetting the Reboobicans/Tea Beggars. You can hypothesize all you want to, toss out numbers left and right and quote any number of “experts” as both sides have, but the only way to really tell if something will actually work is to try it out. So what happens to the Reboobican Party IF and I do mean IF the ACA actually works even remotely as advertised?

Simple, if it actually works all of the years of rancor and rhetoric will make the Reboobicans look pretty much like a bunch of greedy, grumpy morons (Wait, how is that any different than now.) It will reinforce the view that so many Americans have that Reboobicans, Tea Beggars and Cantservatives are more interested in power and money than the welfare of the American People. If it actually works, it will pretty much blow any chance of any Reboobican winning a major election for at least 8 or more years.

So, the Reboobican Anti-ACA offensive has gone into overdrive. The Government Shutdown/Debt Ceiling fiasco is the last chance they have of possibly stopping the implementation of the ACA. It is Go Time/Do or Die/Photo Finish and any other cliche you can possibly think of for the Grand Old Poopers. If they don't stop it now, in just a few months the force of the ACA will come into play and then that horrible and dangerous thing called FACTS will come into play. Rhetoric and Hypotheses will be replaced with actual information. Good or bad, right or wrong, we will know for a FACT if Obamacare actually performs as advertised. Scary huh?

As an ending note (B-Sharp), I can't help but imagine all of the side/back stepping that is going to happen whichever side turns out to be right. How many Damnocrats will suddenly claim that they were against the ACA the whole time and fought it tooth and claw. How many Reboobicans will scream, “No no, I supported the idea all along, it was THOSE guys who opposed it” if Obamacare actually works. Pollytickans are generally more flexible than a gymnast when it comes to covering their own butts. Just a thought.

End of Rant

The times they are a changing and boy does it peeve some people off.

http://gma.yahoo.com/transgender-teen-crowned-homecoming-queen-wipes-away-tears-184008245--abc-news-topstories.html

This piece isn't about the subject of Transgender or even the LGBT movement. My feelings about those particular subjects should be well known from these blogs and my other posts. I have friends who disagree with my position and that is perfectly fine because, unlike it seems the majority of the world, I can disagree civilly with my friends and still not range into insults. (Well except maybe in TC's case, but then it is usually a conscious choice between the two of us to liven things up and not meant to be harmful.) No, this piece is more about human nature and expectations thereof.

First let me say I am proud of this young girl. I am proud of her having the courage to attempt something that has never been done before and I am proud of her for standing up for herself despite any harshness that might be directed her way. I am also proud of her School for allowing this to happen. For a School to allow a TG student to run for Homecoming Queen despite what was probably substantial backlash from some parents and church leaders takes a lot of courage. I am also proud of her classmates since she would have never become Queen without their votes. (As a side note, I'd also like to apologize for the very obvious and highly inappropriate joke that occurred in my head when I first read about a TG student being voted Homecoming Queen. That has less to do with being insensitive than the fact that I have a warped mind.)

Whereas I support this girl and the 1000s more like her who are trying to change the world one step at a time, I do find myself questioning what she was expecting when she became Queen. She cries and talks about all of the negativity and backlash that has occurred as she is surprised that it is happening. Like she expected to be selected and everything would be both hunky and dorry. I just wonder what she was thinking.

We live in a country where people get their knickers in a serious twist when a little boy who was born in America sings the National Anthem (Twice) just because he was Hispanic. We reside in a nation where people get peeved off because a young lade from New York wins Miss America just because she is of Indian Descent. We live in a land where people get serious diarrhea of the mouth just because there is a CARTOON show about a little boy who transforms into a female superhero. (Shezow just in case you haven't heard about it. It is actually very funny.) So of course the haters, nutjobs and bigots are going to come out in full force when a TG wins Homecoming Queen.

Now do I think this is right? Hells no! Would I expect anything less from the Narrow Minded Nose Breathers that seem to populate the Twit Zone and other Social Media sites. Double Hells no! I like to believe that we are slowly moving past such things, but it is very much a case of two steps forward/one and a half steps back. She stood up for what she believes in. She fought for what she thought was right. (Okay it was just Homecoming Queen, but it is still important to most High Schoolers.) She should be commended for that, but to expect anything more than hate and derision from most people out there is a little silly. It shouldn't be, but it is.

As a closing note, I was (as usual) vaguely amused by all of the comments where people were saying things like “Voicing my opinion is now hate speech?” etc. Hey, Morons! Everyone has the right to civilly express their displeasure over any subject. It is called the 1^st Amendment. (Or as I like to call it, Fred.) The people who have this girl crying didn't express civil opinions. They cursed her and derided her. They mocked her harshly. There is a big difference between saying, “I disagree with the Transgender movement and do not personally believe that Gender/Sexual Orientation” is determined by biology” and saying...well pretty much anything that has appeared on the WBC protest signs.

I truly hope that we will change our bigoted ways in the future. We have seen it happen in the past with the Civil Rights movement so it is possible. If it happens it is because more and more people like this Homecoming Queen have the courage to stand up and don a sparkly tiara despite the criticism and hate that might come.

End of Rant

Couldn't have said it better meself, which is why I am stealing his...

http://porkbrainsandmilkgravy.blogspot.com/2013/09/ya-pays-ya-money-ya-takes-ya-chances.html

     Words of wisdom from my brilliant brother, Benjy.  It has everything including PORN!  Well okay, it mentions porn and sex so that counts right.  Give him a read and a like.

I'm not crazy, but my other personality is.

http://news.yahoo.com/brace-yourself-government-shutdown-065100155.html

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

Albert Einstein

Believe it or not this isn't a rant about who is in the right and who is in the wrong with the upcoming, seemingly inevitable government shutdown that it looking in October. In my not so humble opinion (IMNSHO), all parties are to blame equally and should suffer the worst fate possible.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHgMsvpFm08

(You might want to skip ahead to 3.00 for the relevant part even though it is all funny.)

The Tea Beggars are insisting that any attempts to keep the government going has to be accompanied by a defunding of the Affordable Care Act or as it is less affectionately known, Obamacare. They are even combating members of their own party and refusing to even consider other options. Of course the White House and Most Damnocrats consider this a complete non-starter. The majority of Main Line Reboobicans realize this and are trying to work up other options that might palatable.

Now of course this is nothing new, Reboobicans have been trying to get the ACA repealed or outright destroyed since about ten seconds after it was born. I have lost count of how many actions they have put forth to try and get it done away with and how many times these actions have failed miserably. Not passing judgment, just pointing out the facts. The history of the past few years shows that this path will fail, but once again the Beggars are happily trudging down it.

So what happens when the Tea Beggars and fringe Reboobicans force a government shutdown because of an unwillingness to compromise? Well, besides the obvious financial and social problems, there is one factor that these morons cannot seem to grasp. If a shut down occurs, Republicans will get the blame for it.

Don't believe me, just look at recent history. Every single time this country has been brought to the financial edge, the Republican Party has gotten the blame for it. Americans have been unable to see past the arguments and finger pointing to the underlying facts and information. All they can see it Reboobican and Tea Beggar Leaders shouting at the top of their lungs while the Damnocrats and the White House come across as more quiet and reasonable. (Not saying they were, just that they come across that way.) So Americans get mad and they get mad at...Guess Who?

And this is the really stupid part to me. The odds are pretty good that the next President will be a Republican. We as a people tend to get fed up every 8 years or so and elect the opposing party in the hopes that something will change. It never does of course, but that goes back to the opening quote. So if we assume that the next Prez will be a a Republican, then the Republican Party will have a much better chance of getting the ACA modified or even repealed. After all, Obama got it passed in the first place even though the support wasn't there. So instead of making fuss after meaningless fuss now, wait till you actually have the power to do something about it. Two years won't destroy the country.

Okay aside over. My main point here is that if and when the shutdown occurs, Everyone is going to be mad at the Tea Beggars and Reboobicans. Trust me, history proves this is so. That means that everyone is going to be mad at the Incumbents and that means when the next elections show up, the Incumbents will be out of office. Don't believe me? That is how we got the Tea Party in the first place.

Don't get me wrong, folks. Neither side is blameless in this heaping pile of Bull Poop that is our current Federal Government. Everyone has done MORE than their fair share to completely fudge things up. I see no way of fixing the current and future problems as long as we keep electing these morons in both parties. However, if you are going to play the game, at least play it in a way that makes sense. Playing in a way that completely devastates your own side is moronic.

If the Tea Beggars force a shutdown, here is what is going to happen. A Full or Partial Shutdown will occur. People will get very very very angry and demand that something be done. The Incumbent President (Who does not have to worry about Re-Election) will come across as all sincere and concerned while the opposing factions will look like crazed evil maniacs. People will rage against Reboobicans and Tea Beggars and eventually they cave in and compromise. The Damnocrats may be forced to give small concessions, but these will be completely overlooked as Reboobicans are forced to eat yet another serving of humble pie.

Finally, when the next elections roll around, voters will be split into two factions inside the Reboobican Party. Faction the first will remember that the people they elected were solely responsible for a shutdown that forced millions of people out of work and they will be peeved off. Faction the second will remember that eventually the people they elected caved into the pressure and agreed to compromises that they shouldn't have. The net result will be that both factions will then vote the incumbents out and get new people in. Again, this is how we got the Tea Party.

The only hope the Reboobicans have of not completely peeving off everyone and at least looking reasonable is if they take Defunding the ACA off the board for budget negotiations and go back to fighting it in the House and Senate. Is it a good solution? Probably not, but it is kind of a choice between being mauled by a wolf or by a bear. Both are painful, but one might just be less damaging than the other.

End of Rant

One more for the Twofer

     As a followup to "Its a Twofer Kind of Day" I give you the musings of my much wiser and more talented Brother.  Being a true Journalist and closer to the subject of the previous Blog, I think he puts it better than I ever could.

http://porkbrainsandmilkgravy.blogspot.com/2013/09/journanjulism-or-i-be-writer.html?showComment=1379390807162#c3990375175873310100

     If you want to see real talent, read his works.  Much better than my Half Assed (Get it?!) musings.

Its a two fer kind of day

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/DC-Decoder/2013/0914/Drudge-hates-new-shield-bill-but-is-defining-journalist-really-fascist#.UjbYrqachYY.facebook

Okay, before we move forward on this one, let me state one thing very clearly. I am not a Journalist. Never claimed to be one and never will. I am proud to call several people friends who are journalists both on the national and more local levels of the scale. They work very hard to uncover the truths about things of importance and then report those truths as accurately as possible to the world around them. Me I just read the daily efforts of Journalists and cadge any of the good bits for my own use. Okay now that we have covered that, moving on.

Now the above article doesn't really go into a lot of details and given the source, it has the usual “THE GUBBERMINT IS TRYING TO TAKE OVER!” flavor to it. Until I can actually read the Bill in question, I will reserve comments on the actual Bill being put forth. My comments are more on the idea of “defining journalist” concept. I think it is high time we actually do redefine or even just define exactly what it means to be a journalist.

Traditionally (and this has been fought many times) Journalists have certain understood rights which help them protect themselves and their sources. IMNSHO (In My Not So Humble Opinion) these rights and protections are fully deserved and should never be abrogated in any shape or form. Lately I have been seeing quite a few people claiming these same protections as their right because they were “Journalists.” The problem with these claims is that the vast majority of them were simply Bloggers who were regurgitating (Usually in large volumes) things that they had read or heard reported without bothering to check to see if what they read was the actual truth.

See most Bloggers are much like me. They go on and on and on ad nauseous about the topic of the day citing Faux News or the Communist News Network. They rant about the latest Facebook lie and give their opinions about it. Very few bother to do any research as to whether the stories are true. These are not journalists, they are merely parrots with diarrhea of the mouth. In my defense I do usually try to find out as much as I can about a subject before I rant about it, but even I have been guilty of not doing my research a few times. (And boy do my readers let me know it! Lol)

So we really do need to define exactly what it means to be a Journalist. My Brother, Mr. Baker, is one of the most honest hard working Journalists I have ever met. He studies and researches every single bit of information that goes into his newspaper before it is printed. He also prints stories because they are true even when he knows those stories might get him in trouble. He has been shot at many times for his work and had his house riddled with bullets for the same reason. HE is a journalist and deserves our respect and protection. Most bloggers do not deserve that title and yes I still include myself.

Don't get me wrong, the idea of the Government assigning “privileges” to one of our most fundamental rights gives me a serious case of the Heebies and Jeebies. That is like saying, “In national news today, Mr. Fox was assigned to Security in the Chicken Houses.” Still like I said, I will have to read the entire Bill before I do any commentary on that.

In closing let me say this, Everyone has the right to give their opinions either over the Interwebz or in real life. It is the 1^st Amendment. Hells you even have the right to say things that are patently untrue. Of course, you also have the right to suffer for what you might have said. Slander and Libel are the flip side to freedom of speech. God Bless America!

End of Rant

TANSTAAFL!

Let's get things straight here.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/16/showbiz/miss-america-racist-reactions/index.html

Now I have spoken of the insane need for bigots and haters to go on and on about how something is “Not American” usually when dealing with idiots who post stupid hate speech when some small child sings the National Anthem. I have run off at the mouth more times than I care to think about when trying to deal with people who associate being American with being White Anglo Saxon and Pale. (My version of WASP for the record.) So I feel no need to go into all of that again, so just let me say if you are still like morons posting hate speech because an AMERICAN (She's from New York for Krishna's sake!) won the Miss America Pageant and happens to be of Indian Descent, well grow up or get lost! The 19^th century is that way.

Nope, this little rant is a bit more odd. I was scrolling through all of the comments in several posts about this particular debacle and I was struck with the downright silliness of some of the comments. People went on and on again about how the Loser of the contest better represented American values, traditions and morals. How a girl who hunted, fished and God only knows what else was a better representative of the American Way of Life. (AWL for short, I was going to call it AWOL but that seemed a bit much.) As I read these I couldn't help but snigger not so quietly to myself and I decided to address the main problem with this whole attitude. This one is prolly going to get me severely yelled at, but hey I am used to it by now.

Let us get one thing completely and utterly straight here. ANY Beauty Pageant is not about how honest, forthright and true (Wait is that the Boy Scouts?) the participants are. It isn't about how their values most reflect the values of their country, state, county etc. The simple fact is that any Beauty Pageant is, well, just about Beautiful the participants are. The winner wins because she or he is the hottest, sexiest person on the stage. It is that simple. Sure we have sections dedicated to talent, but no one wins because of how well they play the trumpet or twirl a baton. Yeah we have parts where the participants tell how they want to solve world hunger or bring about peace for everyone, but no one ever won because their speech was the prettiest.

Beauty Pageants are one of the last and most powerful nods to Male Lust. Look at any major pageant and most minor ones. Every single girl participating is no more than a size 3 or 4. They have no visible scars or deformities and usually they are more than a little gifted in the upstairs/downstairs department. In other words, if you are attracted to skinny overly made up women, they are all smoking hot.

So let us just say for the sake of argument, that Miss Cornfield actually did better represent Truth, Justice and the American Way (No wait that's Superman.) than the person who won. Guess what? It doesn't really matter. The powers that be obviously felt that the woman who won was hotter and sexier than the losers. After all Miss America is a Product that is sold for an entire year by One person. Sure a good personality helps, but pretty faces sell products.

What kills me is that women still have not rose up against these spectacles. Thousands of women world wide still primp, starve and prance in some insane attempt to please others, and it starts young. Anyone who has watched even a single episode of Toddlers and Tiaras should feel sick to their stomachs at how Mothers (Usually earlier victims of this same plague.) dress their kids up in outfits that would make Madonna blush in shame and prance around in front of judges desperately trying to get their approval.

What I would love to see is True Beauty Contests where people are actually judged by how talented and how good they really are. Contests where people are judged by how much they can change the world and make it a better place for every one. As long as we focus on superficial beauty which will fade as time goes on, we will never see the real beauties of our world.

In closing, let me just say that I have met many “beautiful” people who were some of the cruelest and ugliest of people and I have met some incredibly BEAUTIFUL people who would never even make it into a Miss America Contest. Beauty in all of its many shapes and forms is in the eyes of the beholder.

End of Rant

Hide those lights under a bushel! YES!

So, if you have been paying attention to that sort of thing, there has been a lot of bad publicity and outright lies being floated around about Solar Power and the Companies that provide the equipment and services for it. I'm not talking about the various Startup Green Energy companies that have gone and taken government funds with them. I am speaking of solid companies and such that have been doing business for decades being bad mouthed and black listed by Corporate and Government forces. I have seen articles and arguments that range from “Having panels on your roof causes the roof to catch fire” to “Solar Generated Electricity can feed back through the power lines and cause explosions.”

Now all of the claims are ridiculous and really not worth the efforts to speak of them. Solar Energy has been around for a long time and is a lot cleaner than Coal Fire Plants AND a lot safer than Nuclear Power. The outright lies being spread are obvious to pretty much anyone so why on Earth are they being spread? The answer is extremely simple and devolves down to the age old reason of money and dependence.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/solar-panel-next-granite-countertop-161321343.html

This very interesting article pretty much puts it all together in a nutshell. More and more people are making solar panels a part of their homes construction either during construction or afterward. In doing so, they are saving themselves a goodly amount of money and cutting off revenues from the more traditional power companies. Green power generation is rapidly moving from being a fad or something “those people” do to something that everyone is doing. As solar panels/generation systems become less and less expensive, more and more people are going to start using them. So where does this leave the traditional power companies? Pretty much up that brown creek without a paddle.

So the Traditionals are being forced to make some very nasty decisions. They can increase power rates to those who choose not to use Solar/Wind. This works in the short run, but will only serve to drive more and more people towards Solar/Wind sources over the long term. They can have Government pass taxes such as the ones in Virginia which taxes owners of hybrids/electric cars because they “aren't paying their fair share.” This will only ease the problem because the slight raise in taxes will not offset the massive losses caused by going green.

So with the choices being grim and unproductive, Traditionals and the Government that they have helped paid for have resorted to the world's oldest trick. If you can't win fairly, lie through your teeth. We've seen it before with “DDT is perfectly safe to use and causes no threats to health or nature.” Or the ever popular “There is absolutely no solid scientific evidence that smoking causes cancer.” Disinformation. Distortion and Lies brought to bear when the truth isn't something that is palatable.

So expect more “Solar Panels attract lightning strikes!” stories to appear as Big Power slowly looses its grip on the American People. With more and more people slipping the Grid and making their own power, the louder the screams will be. I am personally thinking about investing in Earplugs.

End of Rant

Buy my books, I'm hungry

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Yummy Coffee Philosophy!

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A time to mourn

NEVER FORGET

So lately I have been ranting on all the stupid Shift that people keep posting on everything from the President to the Cookie Monster. It has been driving me more than a little nuts looking at all of the conspiracy nuts and haters posting lies, exaggerations and disinformation about their favorite subject of hate. So needless to say, I was all prepared to see multiple new articles and postings on the “real” story behind 9/11.

You have all seen them (Well unless you have been living in a cave without WiFi). 9/11 was a secret government conspiracy. No actual jet planes crashed into the twin towers. Explosives were used to do a controlled drop. (This is my personal favorite since controlled drops are NEVER done from the top to the bottom, but always from the lowest floor possible.) Another favorite is that the attack had to be some sort of inside job because Sky Scrapers would never fall the way the towers did. (I especially love this one since no one really knows how Scrapers might fall under conditions like 9/11 since it had NEVER happened before.)

I have to say that I have been pleasantly surprised by the sheer lack of such postings on all the news sites I have seen and believe me I read more than a dozen in a given day. No plots/agendas/hoaxes have been discussed, not even on Facebook where such things abound usually. Instead, I have seen hundreds of dedications and memorials to the people who died that day including this incredibly touching one by Budweiser.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZIxFd5I280

Instead of raging on and on about who did it and what really happened, people have taken this time to reflect and remember that horrible day when we saw the towers fall. I have read touching stories about where people where and what they were doing when it happened. I have read the fears and sorrow everyone experienced. I have read just how much this attack affected us. In short, just this once, I have seen the best of the American People.

Let me add my own remembrance to the list. I had just woken up and was getting ready to go to my job. I just happened to turn on the TV to the news as they were playing footage of the first plane's attack on the Towers. At first I was convinced it was some sort of fictional show similar to War of the Worlds or Special Report, but once I realized it was real I was stunned beyond belief. When news of the second jet hitting the towers hit, I was in tears. To this day, I still remember every single moment of that horrible day.

The rampant stampede of Conspiracy Theories that sprang up almost on the same day has always belittled this horrific moment. They mock the 1000s of people who died, either in the initial attack or later as emergency workers desperately tried to help. The fact that they still abound even after each one was thoroughly debunked, makes me a little bit angry.

So the fact that people can put aside these insane ideas just for one day to simply honor all who died that day and those who are still suffering the after effects of the attack gives me hope that humanity might not be so bad after all. Maybe there is hope for us as a species that we can take a moment to mourn and not proselytize. At least I pray so.

No Rant Today, Just God Bless.

You are entitled to your beliefs, but not to your facts.

So I was having a heated discussion earlier today with someone and it got very lively indeed.  The exact subject wasn't important and was actually very trivial. My opponent kept insisting what he was saying was true and I kept tossing out those pesky little things called “Facts” and even cited where the facts came from. The argument ended with him throwing his hands and saying, “Well, I don't care what you or anyone else says. I know what I know and no one can tell me different.

That statement in a nutshell (and I do mean NUT) is basically what is wrong with the US today. The whole world for that matter. People “know what they know” and refuse to listen to anything that contradicts what they know. The mentality is very much like the old story of a Country Hick who got off the plane in Australia and saw an Ostrich for the first time. Despite the fact the massive bird was standing less than five feet away from him, he just shook his head and said, “There ain't no such animal” and moved on.

The vast majority of people are like that country boy. They accept something as fact and will generally ignore any information that conflicts with their facts. Conspiracy Nuts are a good example. Someone will put forth a “theory” like Inoculations cause Vampirism and cite some obscure researcher from Outer Fredville who did a study on the subject and “proved” that is was true. They will then gather together a coven of like minded individuals who share the same beliefs. Once this is done, no matter how much actual evidence is turned up by pretty much every other researcher on the planet, they will ignore all of this and even insist that it is all part of some grand conspiracy to turn the whole world into Sparkling Blood Suckers. (NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!)

Like I mentioned in previous blogs, my Daddy always told me, “Bobby, the moment anybody starts an argument with an EBK, they have already lost the argument.” EBK stands for Everybody Knows. For the most part, people don't want to hear the truth and avoid it as much as possible. When others try to force the truth into a discussion, you often hear, “Well everybody knows (insert idea here).” The simple fact is, even you are actually telling the truth, Everyone does not know it. It is an even safer bet that everyone who does know the basic facts do not agree on what they mean.

I keep telling myself every single day that people aren't really getting dumber. I reassure myself that the easy availability of the Interwebz just makes it easier for the stupid people to be heard and to find other stupid people that think like them. I tell myself this over and over again every time I see the latest posting about Obama secretly being a Klingon spy sent to overthrow the US or that Republicans are all fat old white men who cook and eat poor peoples' babies for dinner. I try to keep the faith that the bright outnumber the dim, but it is never easy.

Folks I hate being proven wrong. It annoys me to no end. However, unlike many people out there, if someone shows me the facts that prove me wrong I will accept it, albeit grumpily and move on with my life. If we are ever going to fix the problems that are facing the nation and the world, we are going to have to start thinking and accepting the truth even when it sucks. So how about we all make an effort to stop the EBKs and start listening. Who knows, you may just learn something.

End of Rant

Fact or Fiction, sorry you can't have it both ways.

Several people I know on Facebook have recently posted bits that truly make me shake my head in confusion and ponder if anyone actually bothers to check their facts any more before they post stuff or if they just go ahead and post any bit of crap that goes along with what they actually believe is true. The subjects in question ranged from our current Commander In Chief to Inoculations against various and sundry diseases. Each of the posts had a few actual truthful bits in them, but what few facts that existed were completely drowned out by all of the bullcrap.

When people do this, they put any point or idea they support into question. When you use lies or distortions to prove your point, it makes you look bad and anyone with any common sense will look at your arguments and completely dismiss them. They ignore any actual truths you might be using because of the untruths that you have used. In short, you look stupid.

Instead of dragging out a real world example, let's use a completely fictional one that most people will immediately associate with a living person. This is not my fault, you guys just have dirty minds. Anyways, onward and downward!

Our Glorious Leader!

Meet Chester P. Peabody, the recently elected Grand High Poobah (GHP for short) of Kudzu Land. He won the role of GHP after a hotly contested battle royal with his opponent Writ Tummy. Everyone was very surprised when Chester won the battle so immediately all sorts of rumors started flying about dear old Chester. He was an Alien Vegetable Spy. He was secretly a closet Ginger bent on stealing souls. He hated Farnberry Pie (The national pie of Kudzu Land.) with a passion. Instead of worshiping Big Happy Sky Guy like respectable Kudzuians, he worshiped the all powerful Holy Cow.

Now all of these ideas were either out and out lies or at the very least severely distorted versions of reality, but they caught on like wildfire with people spreading the stories over and over again even though there wasn't a shred of evidence to support them.

Step into the ring!  Two Knitters enter One Knitter weaves!

Now once Chester becomes GHP he starts doing questionable things. He declares that the national sport will no longer be Extreme Kazoo Playing and instead will be Full Contact Knitting. He declares war on Geranium, the neighboring country because he secretly covets their Saffron Oil Reserves. He bans Public Spittoon Polishing because he personally finds it offensive. Worst of all, he raises taxes on Farnberry Farms citing non-existent ecological impact issues.

So, as you can see, dear old Chester has become a basically really not nice person. Which is annoying all the Chester Haters (Old and New) to no end. However, instead of focusing on the important facts, people keep trotting out all of the old crap and just add the new stuff to it.

Now if you are an original Chester Hater, this is all well and good because you believed all of the stuff, but if you are a new or borderline Chester Hater it just makes the whole case against Chester look stupid. After all if people aren't bright enough to realize what is fact and what is fantasy, it makes any argument they make look bad.

Here is what I always tell people. It is okay to dislike someone. It is both hunky and dorry (Although not a Hunky Andorian. Little Star Trek humor there.) to dislike someone for all the things they have actually done. However, going on and on about things that aren't even remotely true just because they support what you believe only makes you look dumb and belittles anything you might say in the eyes of others.

In the end, follow a basic set of rules. Do your research on the subject. Find out the actual facts on the subject, even if you don't like them. Then frame your argument from there. Sure you might not always have bad things to dish out, but at least when you do, people might believe you.

End of Rant

Good and Evil, Right and Wrong.

http://www.buglenewspapers.com/opinion/article_e8c66640-14dd-11e3-9619-0019bb30f31a.html

ROUND ONE! FIGHT!

      So a very good and dear friend of mine whom I like to call the Angelic Atheist just to confuse people posted the above link earlier today.  I read it and it brought to mind many of the various ponderings I have had over the years dealing with the subject of good and evil/right and wrong.  (Hence the title of the rant.)  It is something that has bothered me on a spiritual level to no end because to me it doesn't have a clear answer.
     On the front of it, the argument seems pretty simple.  People argue that somethings are just right and somethings are just wrong.  The extension of this argument is (At least to me) people who do the right things are good and the ones who do the bad things are evil.  Simple enough, right?  The disconnect seems to come because most people cannot agree exactly what determines right and wrong.
    Fer example, show me one concept that is UNIVERSALLY accepted as good or evil.  (Well okay, planetally.)  I promise you that you won't find very many examples that are accepted within one social/spiritual construct, let alone across every culture/race/religion on the planet.  Culture X might say that certain things are an abomination while Culture Z disagrees.  Religion Y might say such and such is a sin, but Religion G might welcome it with open robes.

Yes pay attention, there will be a test later.

      So if no one can agree on what is good and what is evil, then what do we base what we believe on?  How we decide if someone is a good person or a bad person?  How do we understand if their actions are right or wrong?  The above article reminds me of a late night discussion I had long ago with Thomas W. Green, David Barron and a few others of our weekend gaming group.  Like Peter and Paul (Prowl?), we pondered what would happen if someone was raised within an exclusive community with no real exposure to the outside world. 
     In this scenario, Joe was raised amongst the followers of the EVIL (Kills babies rapes sheep sort of Guy) God, Fred.  Fred's believers completely and utterly believe that Fred is a great god and a good and righteous God.  They do his bidding because they completely believe that his is the right and true way.  So all Joe has ever known for his 18 years of life is the Cult of Fred.  With no exposure to the outside world, he has only what he sees and is taught to base his concept of Good and Evil off of.  So of course, Joe believes that Fred's ways are good and the OTHERS are evil.  So when Joe is unleashed upon the world and commits atrocity after atrocity, he is doing good at least as far as he can possibly understand it.
     So back to the idea of Good and Evil as a Universal Concept.  I think that, at least looking back in an historical sense, we can agree that certain events/actions were evil.  The Holocaust comes to mind as a prime example.  However, we only seem to be able to apply these concepts in retrospect.  In this example, during the time it was happening, many people in the German High Command supported the extermination of Millions of People and even viewed it as a good thing to help their race become stronger.  So in hindsight, most (But not all which goes back to the idea of a Universal Concept) agree that it was a horrible period in our world's history.
     Unfortunately, when it comes to present day, even that uniformity seems to slide away.  I have actually seen points being argued that Syria's use of Sarin Gas was not necessarily an evil act since it might cut down on the overall total of deaths incurred by the war.  On a less grand scale, you have plenty of people who think it is perfectly okay to steal from others because they "need" things more than their victims.  You have people who believe that is fine to beat someone to the point of death because their sexual practices are an affront to "God."
     So is there such a thing as Good and Evil.  Can we have a concept of Right and Wrong that everyone accepts?  Probably not.  I am reminded of something one of my professors posited way back at Troy State.  He asked, "What would happen if tomorrow GOD appeared in our skies and proved beyond any possible sense of doubt that he was indeed the One and Only God.  How would our culture change?"  His answer was "It wouldn't change much at all.  Since most if not all of world's religions would be instantly proven wrong, every devout follower of that religion would immediately rail against GOD because he said they were wrong."
    Until and if we reach that pinnacle that so many Sci-Fi Authors have written about where we move past national and cultural boundaries and become a truly Global culture, Good and Evil/Right and Wrong will always be difficult concepts to nail down.  I guess in the end, all we can do is the best we can and hope the decisions we make are the right ones.

End of Rant